Question

1. the width of a red blood cell is about 7.6×10^(-6) meters. the width of a dna molecule is about 1.8×10^(-9) meters.

part a
what is the difference between the width of the red blood cell and the width of the dna molecule? write the number in scientific notation.

Explanation:

Step1: Rewrite numbers to same exponent

We rewrite $7.6\times 10^{-6}$ as $7600\times 10^{-9}$ (since $7.6\times10^{-6}=7.6\times10^{3}\times10^{-9}=7600\times 10^{-9}$).

Step2: Subtract the numbers

$(7600\times 10^{-9})-(1.8\times 10^{-9})=(7600 - 1.8)\times10^{-9}=7598.2\times 10^{-9}$.

Step3: Convert to proper scientific notation

$7598.2\times 10^{-9}=7.5982\times 10^{3}\times10^{-9}=7.5982\times 10^{-6}$.

Answer:

$7.5982\times 10^{-6}$