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

Question

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

$2.9219×1011
2.9219 dollars times 10 superscript 11 baseline

$1.0183×1024
1.0183 dollars times 10 superscript 24 baseline

$3.0015×1013
3.0015 dollars times 10 superscript 13 baseline

$2.9219×1013

Answer 1

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

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

Now we convert \(3.98 \times 10^{11}\) to the same exponent as \(2.9617 \times 10^{13}\):

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

Now we can subtract:

\[ \text{Debt Increase} = 2.9617 \times 10^{13} - 0.0398 \times 10^{13} \]

\[ \text{Debt Increase} = (2.9617 - 0.0398) \times 10^{13} \]

\[ \text{Debt Increase} = 2.9219 \times 10^{13} \]

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

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