The approximate areas of Colorado and Hawaii are listed below:

Question

Colorado: 2.7 x 10^5 square kilometers
Hawaii: 2.83 x 10^4 square kilometers
How much larger is Colorado? Express your answer using scientific notation.

Answer 1

To find out how much larger Colorado is than Hawaii, we need to subtract the area of Hawaii from the area of Colorado.

First, let's express both areas in scientific notation:

• Area of Colorado: \( 2.7 \times 10^5 \) km²
• Area of Hawaii: \( 2.83 \times 10^4 \) km²

To perform the subtraction, it's helpful to express both numbers with a common exponent. The area of Hawaii can be rewritten as:

\[ 2.83 \times 10^4 = 0.283 \times 10^5 \]

Now, we can subtract the areas:

\[ 2.7 \times 10^5 - 0.283 \times 10^5 = (2.7 - 0.283) \times 10^5 = 2.417 \times 10^5 \]

Now we express our answer in scientific notation. We have:

\[ \text{Colorado is approximately } 2.417 \times 10^5 \text{ square kilometers larger than Hawaii.} \]

So the final answer is:

\[ \boxed{2.417 \times 10^5} \text{ square kilometers} \]