The U.S. national debt was $2.9617×10^13 in 2021 and $3.98×1011 in 1971. Find how much the debt increased in the 50-year period. (1 point)

Question

Responses

$3.0015×1013
3.0015 dollars times 10 superscript 13 baseline

$1.0183×1024
1.0183 dollars times 10 superscript 24 baseline

$2.9219×1013
2.9219 dollars times 10 superscript 13 baseline

$2.9219×1011

Answer 1

To find out how much the national debt increased over the 50-year period from 1971 to 2021, we can subtract the debt in 1971 from the debt in 2021.

In 2021, the debt was: \[ 2.9617 \times 10^{13} \]

In 1971, the debt was: \[ 3.98 \times 10^{11} \]

Now we need to ensure they are in the same format to subtract them. We can rewrite \( 3.98 \times 10^{11} \) as \( 0.0398 \times 10^{13} \).

Now we can proceed with the subtraction:

\[ 2.9617 \times 10^{13} - 0.0398 \times 10^{13} = (2.9617 - 0.0398) \times 10^{13} = 2.9219 \times 10^{13} \]

So, the increase in the national debt over the 50-year period is: \[ \boxed{2.9219 \times 10^{13}} \]