Sam is comparing the half-life of two isotopes of uranium. The half-life of Uranium-238 is 4.5 * 10 ^ 9 years. The half-life of Uranium-233 is 1.6 * 10 ^ 5 years. He computed how much greater the half-life of Uranium-238 is than that of Uranium-233, and his calculator displayed the number 2.81E4. What is this number in scientific notation? (1 point)
The number 2.81E4 in scientific notation is written as 2.81 * 10^4.
The number 2.81E4 is already in scientific notation. "E4" stands for 10 raised to the power of 4. So, the number in scientific notation is 2.81 x 10^4.
To express the number 2.81 * 10^4 in scientific notation, we need to move the decimal point to the right until we have a number between 1 and 10. In this case, we would move the decimal point 4 places to the right, resulting in the number 28,100.
Therefore, the number 2.81 * 10^4 in scientific notation is 2.81E4.