In a given year, about 1.52×10^10 pieces of first-class mail are delivered in the U.S. If each piece of mail carries a stamp costing $0.55, what is the total cost in dollars to deliver all the pieces? Write the answer in scientific notation, expressed to the exact decimal place.(1 point)
To find the total cost, we need to multiply the number of pieces of mail by the cost of each stamp.
Total cost = (1.52×10^10) * ($0.55)
To multiply two numbers in scientific notation, we multiply the coefficients and add the exponents:
Total cost = 1.52 * 0.55 * 10^10
Multiplying 1.52 and 0.55 gives us 0.836.
Total cost = 0.836 * 10^10
In scientific notation, 0.836 is written as 8.36 x 10^-1.
Total cost = 8.36 x 10^-1 * 10^10
To add the exponents, we subtract the smaller exponent from the larger exponent:
Total cost = 8.36 * 10^(10-1)
Final answer: 8.36 x 10^9 dollars.