Roughly it takes light less than 0.000000003 of a second to travel a one-meter distance express this number in the form of a x 10^n where 1 < a < 10 and is a one-digit number
A. 3 x 10^-8
B. 3 x 10^-9
C. 3 x 10^9
D. 3 x 10^8
To express the given number in the form of a x 10^n, we need to move the decimal point 9 places to the left, since the number is less than 1. Therefore, the correct answer is:
B. 3 x 10^-9
To express the number in the form of a x 10^n, where 1 < a < 10 and a is a one-digit number, we need to move the decimal point to create a number between 1 and 10.
Given that it takes light less than 0.000000003 of a second to travel a one-meter distance, we can rewrite this as 3 x 10^-9 seconds.
Comparing this with the given answer choices:
A. 3 x 10^-8 (This is not the correct form as a is not a one-digit number)
B. 3 x 10^-9 (This is the correct form as a is a one-digit number, and it matches the given information)
C. 3 x 10^9 (This is not the correct form as it has a positive exponent)
D. 3 x 10^8 (This is not the correct form as it has a positive exponent)
Thus, the correct answer is B. 3 x 10^-9
To express the number in the form of a x 10^n, where 1 < a < 10 and is a one-digit number, we count the number of zeros after the decimal point. In this case, there are 8 zeros after the decimal point.
Therefore, the number can be expressed as 3 x 10^-8.
So, the correct answer is A. 3 x 10^-8.