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Place the numbers in descending order.

2.3 × 10^−10 ; 3.2 × 10^−10 ; 2.3 × 10^−12 ; 2.3 × 10^−8 (2 points)

1 answer

To place the numbers in descending order, we first convert them to a more comparable form. The numbers are:

  1. \(2.3 \times 10^{-10}\)
  2. \(3.2 \times 10^{-10}\)
  3. \(2.3 \times 10^{-12}\)
  4. \(2.3 \times 10^{-8}\)

Now, let's compare these numbers based on their powers of 10:

  • \(2.3 \times 10^{-10}\) (power of -10)
  • \(3.2 \times 10^{-10}\) (power of -10)
  • \(2.3 \times 10^{-12}\) (power of -12)
  • \(2.3 \times 10^{-8}\) (power of -8)

Since in scientific notation, a higher exponent indicates a larger number, we can rank them based on their exponents:

  1. \(2.3 \times 10^{-8}\) (largest)
  2. \(2.3 \times 10^{-10}\) (next)
  3. \(3.2 \times 10^{-10}\) (smaller because \(2.3\) is smaller than \(3.2\))
  4. \(2.3 \times 10^{-12}\) (smallest)

Now, placing them in descending order:

  1. \(2.3 \times 10^{-8}\)
  2. \(3.2 \times 10^{-10}\)
  3. \(2.3 \times 10^{-10}\)
  4. \(2.3 \times 10^{-12}\)

So the final descending order is:

\(2.3 \times 10^{-8}, 3.2 \times 10^{-10}, 2.3 \times 10^{-10}, 2.3 \times 10^{-12}\)