What is the sum of 7.1x10^5 and 11.4x10^3? Express your answer using scientific notation.

Answer 1

To add the two numbers in scientific notation, the exponents must be the same.

Since $7.1 \times 10^5 = 710000$ and $11.4 \times 10^3 = 11400$, we can add the numbers as ordinary decimal numbers to obtain $710000 + 11400 = 721400$. However, we must adjust the result to express it in scientific notation.

Since $721400 = 7.214 \times 10^5$, the sum is $\boxed{7.214 \times 10^5}$.