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 compare the values in scientific notation, we need to convert each number into scientific notation.
For 123,893, the closest power of 10 would be ${\times}10^5$ since $10^5 = 100,000$. Writing this in scientific notation, we get $1.23893{\times}10^5$.
For 31,892, the closest power of 10 would be ${\times}10^4$ since $10^4 = 10,000$. Writing this in scientific notation, we get $3.1892{\times}10^4$.
For 12,786, the closest power of 10 would be ${\times}10^4$ since $10^4 = 10,000$. Writing this in scientific notation, we get $1.2786{\times}10^4$.
To compare these numbers, we look at the coefficient part (the number in front of the power of 10). The coefficient with the least value is $3.1892$ or $3.1892{\times}10^4$.