Numbers in Science

What is the average number of persons per state if the United States population is currently 260,000,000? Express your answer in scientific and EE notation to the correct number of significant figures.

Solution:

 5.2 x 10⁶,   5.2 EE 6

Sketch:

Keep in mind the correct use of significant figures, which in this case is 2. There are exactly 50 states (this is not so much a measurement as an exact count), so this number has 2 sig figs, but the population of the United States is likely an approximation, and has only 2 sig figs as well.

The average is computed by taking the total population and dividing by the number of states to get the number of persons per state.

Try another problem like this one.

Next Try It Out Problem.

Developed by

The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.
in cooperation with the Department of Chemistry,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Another Problem 2

Question:

Solution: 5.2 x 106, 5.2 EE 6 Sketch:

Solution:
5.2 x 10⁶, 5.2 EE 6

Sketch: