The skyscraper has a mass of 2.2x10^5 tons. Another skyscraper in the same town has a mass of 3.7x10^5 tons. What is the combined mass, in tons, of the two skyscrapers? Use scientific notation to express your answer to 1 decimal place.

Answer 1

To find the combined mass of the two skyscrapers, we need to add their individual masses.

The mass of the first skyscraper is 2.2x10^5 tons.
The mass of the second skyscraper is 3.7x10^5 tons.

To add these masses, we need to have the same power of 10. Let's convert the mass of the second skyscraper to the same power of 10 as the first skyscraper.

3.7x10^5 tons is the same as 37x10^4 tons.

Now, let's add the two masses: 2.2x10^5 tons + 37x10^4 tons = (2.2 + 37)x10^4 tons = 39.2x10^4 tons.

To express the answer in scientific notation to 1 decimal place, we need to divide 39.2x10^4 tons by 10^4 to obtain a number between 1 and 10:

39.2x10^4 tons / 10^4 = 3.92x10^(4+10-4) tons = 3.92x10^10 tons.

Therefore, the combined mass of the two skyscrapers is 3.9x10^10 tons.