To find the difference between the sizes of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms, we first need to represent both numbers in scientific notation.
The size of a hydrogen atom is given as: \[ 1.2 \times 10^{-10} , m \]
The size of an oxygen atom is given in standard decimal notation: \[ 0.000000000152 , m \] This can be converted to scientific notation: \[ 0.000000000152 = 1.52 \times 10^{-10} , m \]
Now, we can subtract the size of the oxygen atom from the size of the hydrogen atom: \[ (1.2 \times 10^{-10}) - (1.52 \times 10^{-10}) = (1.2 - 1.52) \times 10^{-10} \] \[ = -0.32 \times 10^{-10} \]
To express this in proper scientific notation, we convert \(-0.32\) to \(-3.2\) by shifting the decimal point one place to the right, which means we need to adjust the exponent: \[ -0.32 \times 10^{-10} = -3.2 \times 10^{-11} \]
The difference in sizes of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms is: \[ -3.2 \times 10^{-11} , m \]
However, if the problem asks for the absolute difference (ignoring the sign), the answer would be: \[ 3.2 \times 10^{-11} , m \]
So, the correct response is: 3.2×10−11 m