N scientific notation. Assignment 1.3 AVERAGE MASS OF HOUSE FLY Adult housefly (Musca domestica) is having a mass of only about 0.000,021,4 kg. Express this number in standard form / scientific notation.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To express the mass of an adult housefly (0.0000214 kg) in scientific notation, follow these steps:
1. Identify the Significant Figures
The number provided is 0.0000214 kg. The significant digits are 214. We ignore the leading zeros because they don’t affect the value of the number.
2. Move the Decimal Point
To convert the number into scientific notation, you need to move the decimal point such that there is only one non-zero digit to the left of the decimal point.
For 0.0000214, move the decimal point 5 places to the right: 0.0000214 ⟹ 2.140.0000214 \implies 2.140.0000214⟹2.14
3. Count the Number of Decimal Places Moved
Since the decimal point was moved 5 places to the right, this corresponds to a negative exponent in scientific notation (because the original number is less than 1).
4. Write in Scientific Notation
Now, write the number in the form of: Number×10exponent\text{Number} \times 10^{\text{exponent}}Number×10exponent
This gives: 2.14×10−5 kg2.14 \times 10^{-5} \text{ kg}2.14×10−5 kg
Final Answer:
The mass of the housefly in scientific notation is 2.14×10−52.14 \times 10^{-5}2.14×10−5 kg.
Explanation of the Process:
Scientific notation is used to express very large or very small numbers in a more manageable form. It involves two main parts:
- A decimal number between 1 and 10.
- A power of 10 that indicates how many places the decimal point was moved.
For example, moving the decimal point to the right for small numbers results in a negative exponent. In this case, moving 5 places gives a power of 10−510^{-5}10−5, which reflects the smallness of the value.
