The U.S. national debt was $2.9617\times 10^(13) in 2021 and $3.98\times 10^(11) in 1971 . Find how much the debt increased in the 50-year period.

Answer 1

To find the increase in the national debt over the 50-year period, we need to subtract the debt in 1971 from the debt in 2021.

The debt in 2021 is $2.9617 \times 10^{13}$.

The debt in 1971 is $3.98 \times 10^{11}$.

To subtract these two values, we can subtract the coefficients and keep the same exponent:

$(2.9617 \times 10^{13}) - (3.98 \times 10^{11})$

$= 2.9617 \times 10^{13} - 0.0398 \times 10^{13}$ (Note that we can rewrite $3.98 \times 10^{11}$ as $0.0398 \times 10^{13}$)

$= 2.9617 \times 10^{13} - 0.0398 \times 10^{13}$

$= (2.9617 - 0.0398) \times 10^{13}$

$= 2.9219 \times 10^{13}$

Therefore, the debt increased by $2.9219 \times 10^{13}$ over the 50-year period.