A strand of hair has an average mass of 2.17×10−5 ounces. A grain of rice has an average mass of 0.002 ounces. How much heavier is a grain of rice than a strand of hair? Express your answer in scientific notation.(1 point)
×
ounces
To find the difference in mass between a grain of rice and a strand of hair, we subtract the mass of the hair from the mass of the rice.
0.002 ounces - 2.17×10^-5 ounces
To subtract these quantities, we need to express them both in scientific notation with the same exponent. We can express 0.002 as 2×10^-3.
2×10^-3 ounces - 2.17×10^-5 ounces
Now we can subtract the two quantities:
(2-2.17)×10^-3 ounces
= -0.17×10^-3 ounces
Finally, we can express this answer in scientific notation:
= -1.7×10^-4 ounces.
Therefore, a grain of rice is 1.7×10^-4 ounces heavier than a strand of hair.