Question

DNA’s diameter is 0.000000002 meters. What is this measurement in scientific notation? a. 2.0 x 109 m

Answer 1

Answer:

0.000000002 m=2.0*10⁻⁹ m

Explanation:

Scientific notation allows us to write very large or very small numbers in abbreviated form. This notation simply consists of multiplying by a power of base 10 with a positive or negative exponent.

A number written in scientific notation has the form:

a*10ⁿ

where:

• the coefficient a has a value such that 1 ≤ a <10
• n is an integer.  Represents the number of times the decimal point is shifted. It is always a whole number, positive if it is shifted to the left, negative if it is shifted to the right.

So to write the number 0.000000002 in scientific notation, the following steps are performed:

• The decimal point is moved to the right as many spaces until it reaches the right of the first digit.

• This number is then written, which will be the coefficient a in the expression of the previous product. So a=2.0
• The base 10 is written with the exponent equal to the number of spaces that the comma moves. So n=9. But this is a negative number because the comma shifts to the right.

So, you get: 0.000000002 m=2.0*10⁻⁹ m