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 expressed to the exact decimal place
To determine which of these numbers has the least value, we will write them in scientific notation.
123,893 = 1.23893 x 10^5
31,892 = 3.1892 x 10^4
12,786 = 1.2786 x 10^4
Comparing the exponents, we can see that 10^4 is the smallest among them. Therefore, the number with the least value is 12,786.
To determine which of the given numbers has the least value using scientific notation, we need to express each number in scientific notation and compare their exponents.
1. 123,893: To write this number in scientific notation, we move the decimal point after the first digit and count the number of places we moved. In this case, we can write it as 1.23893 × 10^5.
2. 31,892: We can write this number in scientific notation as 3.1892 × 10^4 because we moved the decimal point one position to the left.
3. 12,786: We can write this number in scientific notation as 1.2786 × 10^4.
Comparing the exponents:
- 1.23893 × 10^5 (123,893) has the largest exponent of 5.
- 3.1892 × 10^4 (31,892) has an exponent of 4.
- 1.2786 × 10^4 (12,786) has an exponent of 4 as well.
Since the smallest exponent corresponds to the least value, the number with the least value is 12,786, expressed in scientific notation as 1.2786 × 10^4.
To determine which number has the least value, let's convert all the given numbers into scientific notation and compare.
1. 123,893:
Since there are no trailing zeros after the decimal point, we can express this number as 1.23893 × 10^5.
2. 31,892:
Similarly, this number can be expressed as 3.1892 × 10^4.
3. 12,786:
Again, converting this number results in 1.2786 × 10^4.
Comparing the exponents of the scientific notation, we can conclude that 1.2786 × 10^4 has the least value among the given numbers.