Question

The average grain of salt is 0.0003 meters wide. Rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, is 0.00000003 meters wide. How many times wider is a grain of salt than Rhinovirus? Choose the correct answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

$1\times 10^4\ times$

Step-by-step explanation:

Given:

Width of average grain of salt is, $w=0.0003\ m$

Width of Rhinovirus is, $W=0.00000003\ m$

Now, expressing each width in scientific notation form, we get:

$w=0.0003\ m = 3\times 10^{-4}\ m\\\\W=0.00000003\ m = 3\times 10^{-8}\ m$

Now, in order to get how many times 'W' is wider than 'w', we divide the two widths. This gives,

$\frac{W}{w}=\frac{3\times 10^{-4}\ m}{3\times 10^{-8}\ m}\\\\\frac{W}{w}=1\times 10^{-4-(-8)}=1\times 10^{-4+8}=1\times 10^4\\\\\therefore W=1\times 10^4\times w$

Therefore, the grain of salt is $1\times 10^4\ times$ wider than Rhinovirus.