Astronomers measure large distances in light-years. One light-year is the distance that light can travel in one year, or approximately 5.88 × 10^12 miles. Suppose a star is 9.8 × 10^1 light-years from Earth. In scientific notation, approximately how many miles is it?
To find the approximate number of miles, we multiply the given distance in light-years by the number of miles in one light-year.
9.8 × 10^1 light-years * 5.88 × 10^12 miles per light-year = (9.8 × 5.88) × (10^1 × 10^12) miles
= 57.624 × 10^13 miles
= 5.7624 × 10^14 miles
In scientific notation, the approximate number of miles is 5.7624 × 10^14.