To place the numbers in descending order, we first convert them to a more comparable form. The numbers are:
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-10}\)
- \(3.2 \times 10^{-10}\)
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-12}\)
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-8}\)
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:
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-8}\) (largest)
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-10}\) (next)
- \(3.2 \times 10^{-10}\) (smaller because \(2.3\) is smaller than \(3.2\))
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-12}\) (smallest)
Now, placing them in descending order:
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-8}\)
- \(3.2 \times 10^{-10}\)
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-10}\)
- \(2.3 \times 10^{-12}\)
So the final descending order is:
\(2.3 \times 10^{-8}, 3.2 \times 10^{-10}, 2.3 \times 10^{-10}, 2.3 \times 10^{-12}\)