Question

A website shows the population of China as 1.4 · 10^{9} and the United States as 3.2 · 10^{8}.

Part A: Explain how to find by what factor does China have more people than the United States.

Part B: Explain how to find how much greater the population of China is compared to the United States.

Part C: Describe why writing the population of a country in scientific notation is beneficial.

Answer 1

A. (1.4 × 10⁹) people

= (1.4 × 10000000000) people = 14.000.000.000 people

   (3.8 × 10⁸) people

= (3.8 × 1000000000) people = 3.800.000.000 people

B. 14.000.000.000 people - 3.800.000.000 people

= 10.200.000.000 people  = 1.02 × 10⁹ people

C. Because it allows us to easily write and make calculations with extremely small and extremely large numbers.