The U.S. national debt was $2.9617×1013

Question

$
2.9617
×
10
13
in 2021 and $3.98×1011
$
3.98
×
10
11
in 1971. Find how much the debt increased in the 50-year period. (1 point)
Responses

$1.0183×1024
$
1.0183
×
10
24
1.0183 dollars times 10 superscript 24 baseline

$3.0015×1013
$
3.0015
×
10
13
3.0015 dollars times 10 superscript 13 baseline

$2.9219×1011
$
2.9219
×
10
11
2.9219 dollars times 10 superscript 11 baseline

$2.9219×1013

Answer 1

To calculate the increase in the U.S. national debt from 1971 to 2021, we subtract the debt in 1971 from the debt in 2021.

1. Debt in 2021: \(2.9617 \times 10^{13}\)
2. Debt in 1971: \(3.98 \times 10^{11}\)

Now, we perform the subtraction:

\[ 2.9617 \times 10^{13} - 3.98 \times 10^{11} \]

Since the numbers are expressed in scientific notation, we can rewrite \(3.98 \times 10^{11}\) to have the same exponent as the first number:

\[ 3.98 \times 10^{11} = 0.0398 \times 10^{13} \]

Now we can perform the subtraction:

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

Thus, the increase in the U.S. national debt over the 50-year period is:

\[ \boxed{2.9219 \times 10^{13}} \]