I previously posted this today at 5:33 am and I am reposting this because I don't want this to be buried with other unanswered questions and I realized this was the wrong subject.
How do I answer this question/problem? I can't input the following scientific notations in a calculator and would like to know how to solve it. Thank you tutors.
The four other recognized dwarf planets in the solar system and their estimated masses in kilograms (kg) are:
Haumea: 4.006 x 10 to the power of 21 kg Ceres: 9.39 x 10 to the power of 20 kg
Eris: 1.67 x 10 to the power of 22 kg
Makemake: 3.0 x 10 to the power of 21 kg
Pluto's mass is 1.305 x 10 to the power of 22 kg. Order these five dwarf planets from most massive to least massive.
Er 1.7 *10^22
P 1.3*10^22
Ha 4*10^21
Ma 3*10^21
Ce 9 * 10^20
You just told me the answer, and now that I overlook it I can see that I could've just listed the highest decimal/mass and rounded it. Thank you tutor Damon.
To order the five dwarf planets from most massive to least massive, you need to compare their masses. Each of the masses is given in scientific notation, which is a way of writing numbers that are very large or very small.
Here are the steps to solve this problem:
1. Write down the masses of the dwarf planets:
Haumea: 4.006 x 10^21 kg
Ceres: 9.39 x 10^20 kg
Eris: 1.67 x 10^22 kg
Makemake: 3.0 x 10^21 kg
Pluto: 1.305 x 10^22 kg
2. To compare the masses, compare the numbers in front of the powers of 10. The larger the number, the greater the mass. If the numbers are the same, compare the exponents (powers of 10). The larger the exponent, the greater the mass.
Let's compare the first two dwarf planets:
Haumea: 4.006 x 10^21 kg
Ceres: 9.39 x 10^20 kg
The number in front of the power of 10 in Haumea's mass (4.006) is larger than that in Ceres' mass (9.39). Therefore, Haumea is more massive than Ceres.
Now, let's compare Haumea with the next dwarf planet:
Haumea: 4.006 x 10^21 kg
Eris: 1.67 x 10^22 kg
The exponent in Eris' mass (22) is larger than that in Haumea's mass (21). Even though Haumea's number (4.006) is smaller than Eris' number (1.67), the larger exponent means that Eris has a greater mass than Haumea.
Next, compare Makemake with the other dwarf planets.
Makemake: 3.0 x 10^21 kg
Comparing with Haumea, Makemake's number (3.0) is smaller, implying Makemake is less massive than Haumea.
Now compare Makemake with the remaining planets:
Makemake: 3.0 x 10^21 kg
Pluto: 1.305 x 10^22 kg
The exponent in Pluto's mass (22) is larger than that in Makemake's mass (21). Therefore, Pluto is more massive than Makemake.
So, putting them in order from most massive to least massive:
1. Pluto
2. Eris
3. Haumea
4. Makemake
5. Ceres