Light travels at a speed of 186,282 miles per second. How could this number be expressed in scientific notation?

1)1,862.82 x 10 x10 x10
2)1.86282 x 10 x10 x 10 x10 x10
3)1.86282 x 10 x10 x10 x10
4)186.282 x -10 x-10 x -10

1.86282 * 10^5

I guess that would be B, but it's not scientific notation as given there.

The correct answer is option 3) 1.86282 x 10^5.

To express a number in scientific notation, we write it in the form of a x 10^n, where "a" is a decimal number between 1 and 10, and "n" represents the exponent.

In the given question, the speed of light is 186,282 miles per second. To express this number in scientific notation, we need to move the decimal point to the left so that it becomes a number between 1 and 10. We do this by dividing the original number by 10 until we get a value between 1 and 10.

Dividing 186,282 by 10, we get 18,628.2. Dividing this new number by 10 again, we get 1,862.82. Since this is a number between 1 and 10, we write it as 1.86282.

Now, we need to count the number of times we divided by 10. In this case, we divided twice, so the exponent "n" in scientific notation is 2.

Therefore, the speed of light, 186,282 miles per second, can be expressed as 1.86282 x 10^5.