An educational image showing a chalkboard in a classroom with drawings of the numbers 123, 893, 31,892, and 12,786 in big, colorful fonts. Around these numbers, imaginary physical scales are painted to suggest their relative values in terms of size. The scales are equally spaced and labeled with arrows. The chalkboard's texture is visible, and there's a piece of chalk and a duster at the bottom. The classroom is filled with wooden desks, and diffuse sunlight fills the room from the windows in the background. No text apart from the numbers is present.

Use scientific notation to determine which of these numbers has the least value 123, 893,31,892, or 12,786 write your answer in scientific notation express to the exact decimal place

To determine which number has the least value, we need to convert all the numbers into scientific notation.

123 = 1.23 x 10^2
893 = 8.93 x 10^2
31,892 = 3.1892 x 10^4
12,786 = 1.2786 x 10^4

From these representations, we can see that 1.23 x 10^2 has the least value.

To compare the values of these numbers using scientific notation, we need to write each number in the form of a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of 10.

Let's convert each number to scientific notation:

123 = 1.23 × 10^2
893 = 8.93 × 10^2
31,892 = 3.19 × 10^4
12,786 = 1.28 × 10^4

Comparing the numbers, we can see that the smallest value is 1.23 × 10^2.

To determine which number has the least value using scientific notation, we need to convert the given numbers into scientific notation form.

Let's start with the first number: 123. To convert it into scientific notation, we move the decimal point to the right until we have a number between 1 and 10. In this case, 123 becomes 1.23 x 10^2.

Next, let's convert 893. Similarly, we move the decimal point to get a number between 1 and 10. 893 becomes 8.93 x 10^2.

Moving on to 31,892, the decimal point should be moved three places to get a number between 1 and 10. 31,892 becomes 3.1892 x 10^4.

Finally, let's convert 12,786. In this case, we have to move the decimal point four places to get a number between 1 and 10. So, 12,786 becomes 1.2786 x 10^4.

Now, we can see that the numbers in scientific notation form are as follows:

123 = 1.23 x 10^2
893 = 8.93 x 10^2
31,892 = 3.1892 x 10^4
12,786 = 1.2786 x 10^4

To determine which number has the least value, we need to compare the exponents in each scientific notation. The number with the smallest exponent generally has a smaller value.

Comparing the exponents:
2 < 2
2 < 4
2 < 4

Since all the exponents are the same, we need to compare the decimal parts. In this case, the number with the smallest decimal part will have the least value.

Comparing the decimal parts:
1.23 < 8.93
1.23 < 3.1892
1.23 < 1.2786

From the comparison, we can conclude that the number 123 (1.23 x 10^2) has the least value among the given numbers when expressed in scientific notation, exact to the decimal place.