Question

a train in australia set a world record for operating the heaviest freight train, with a weight of $9.8 \times 10^{4}$ tons. how many thousands of tons is that? \boxed{} thousand tons

Explanation:

Step1: Recall scientific notation and unit conversion

We know that \(10^{3}\) tons is 1 thousand tons. We have the weight as \(9.8\times10^{4}\) tons. We can rewrite \(10^{4}\) as \(10^{3}\times10^{1}\).
So, \(9.8\times10^{4}=9.8\times10^{3}\times10\)

Step2: Simplify the expression

Since \(10^{3}\) tons is 1 thousand tons, we can calculate the value.
\(9.8\times10^{4}=9.8\times10\times10^{3}=98\times10^{3}\)
Which means it is 98 thousand tons.

Answer:

98