Juan is taking a road trip to Pennsylvania the distance he plans to travel can be written as 2 x 10^3 kilometers 2 x 10^5 meters 2 x 10^7 centimeters or 2 x 10^8 milimeters which answer uses the most appropriate units?

1 answer

To determine which unit is most appropriate for Juan's road trip distance, let's convert all the distances to the same unit of measurement.

  1. Kilometers to meters:

    • \(2 \times 10^3 \text{ kilometers} = 2 \times 10^3 \times 1000 \text{ meters} = 2 \times 10^6 \text{ meters}\)
  2. Meters:

    • \(2 \times 10^5 \text{ meters}\) (already in meters)
  3. Centimeters to meters:

    • \(2 \times 10^7 \text{ centimeters} = 2 \times 10^7 \div 100 \text{ meters} = 2 \times 10^5 \text{ meters}\)
  4. Millimeters to meters:

    • \(2 \times 10^8 \text{ millimeters} = 2 \times 10^8 \div 1000 \text{ meters} = 2 \times 10^5 \text{ meters}\)

Now we can summarize the distances in meters:

  • \(2 \times 10^6 \text{ meters} \) (from kilometers)
  • \(2 \times 10^5 \text{ meters} \) (from meters)
  • \(2 \times 10^5 \text{ meters} \) (from centimeters)
  • \(2 \times 10^5 \text{ meters} \) (from millimeters)

The most appropriate unit for a road trip is typically kilometers, since it conveys a larger and more manageable distance for long travels.

Considering the original distance given in kilometers was \(2 \times 10^3 \text{ kilometers}\), this is the best and most appropriate unit to express the distance for the road trip to Pennsylvania.