scientific notation for (5.5*10^-8)(8*10^-2)
I got (5.5*8)(10^-8*10^-2)
then
44*10^10
What am I doing wrong?
(5.5)(8) x 10^-10
= 44 x 10^-10
= 4.4 x 10^-9
how did you get +10 ????
scientific notation consists of a number with a single digit, followed by a decimal x 10^(some exponent)
I actually had -10, forgot to put it above. Thank you. I had stopped at the 44 x 10^-10 and didn't go one step further. Thanks again Reiny.
To multiply numbers in scientific notation, you multiply the coefficients (the numbers before the power of 10) and add the exponents of 10. Let's break down the steps to correctly multiply (5.5 * 10^-8) and (8 * 10^-2):
Step 1: Multiply the coefficients: 5.5 * 8 = 44.
Step 2: Add the exponents of 10: (10^-8) * (10^-2) = 10^(-8 + -2) = 10^-10.
Therefore, the correct scientific notation for (5.5 * 10^-8)(8 * 10^-2) is 44 * 10^-10 or simply 4.4 * 10^-9.
In your calculation, you correctly multiplied the coefficients (5.5 * 8 = 44) but made a mistake when adding the exponents of 10. Instead of multiplying them (-8 * -2 = 10), you added them and got 10^10 instead of 10^-10.