At the end of fiscal year 2004 the federal debt of country c is $278,568,125,000 what is the closest estimation of this amount express your answer in the form of a single digit times and integer power of 10
The closest estimation of the federal debt of country c at the end of fiscal year 2004, expressed in the form of a single digit times an integer power of 10, is $280 billion.
To express the amount in the form of a single digit times an integer power of 10, we need to convert the given value into scientific notation.
The value given is $278,568,125,000.
We can write this value as 2.78568125 × 10^11.
Therefore, the closest estimation of the federal debt is approximately 2.8 × 10^11.
To estimate the federal debt at the end of fiscal year 2004 in the scientific notation form (a single digit times an integer power of 10), we need to determine the appropriate place value to represent the amount.
To convert the given amount into scientific notation, follow these steps:
1. Identify the number of digits in the given amount.
In this case, we have 12 digits: $278,568,125,000.
2. Determine the decimal position by moving the decimal point to the left until there is only one non-zero digit to the left of the decimal point.
To achieve this, we move the decimal point 11 places to the left: $2.78568125000.
3. Count the number of places moved to determine the power of 10.
We moved the decimal point 11 places to the left, so the power of 10 is -11.
4. Express the number in scientific notation.
Combine the non-zero digit and the power of 10 to express the number in scientific notation.
$2.78568125000 × 10^-11
Thus, the closest estimation of the federal debt at the end of fiscal year 2004, expressed in scientific notation, is approximately $2.8 × 10^-11.