Question

leah is measuring the weight of adult rhinos at the zoo. which unit of measurement should she use to eliminate the need to write the values in scientific notation?

grams
feet
gallons
tons

Explanation:

Identify the physical quantity and appropriate dimension

The problem asks for a unit to measure the weight (mass) of adult rhinos.

• Feet measures length.
• Gallons measures volume.
• Grams and tons measure mass/weight.

Compare the scale of the remaining mass units

Adult rhinos are extremely heavy animals, typically weighing between \(1,000\) and \(3,000\) kilograms (\(1\) to \(3\) metric tons, or about \(2,000\) to \(6,000\) pounds).

• Measuring in grams would result in very large numbers (e.g., \(1,000,000\) to \(3,000,000\) grams), which would likely require scientific notation (e.g., \(2 \times 10^6\text{ g}\)).
• Measuring in tons results in small, manageable whole numbers (e.g., \(1\) to \(3\) tons), eliminating the need for scientific notation.

Answer:

• grams
• feet
• gallons
• tons (Correct answer)