Question

a research lab is studying bacteria populations. the first culture has 3.4510^6 bacteria. the second culture has 2.8710^6 bacteria. how many more bacteria are in the first culture than the second? standard notation: scientific notation: x 10

Explanation:

Step1: Subtract coefficients

Since the exponents of 10 are the same ($10^{6}$), we subtract the coefficients of the two numbers in scientific - notation. $3.45 - 2.87=0.58$.

Step2: Write the result in scientific notation

The result in scientific notation is $0.58\times10^{6}$. But in proper scientific notation, the coefficient should be between 1 and 10. So we rewrite it as $5.8\times10^{5}$.

Step3: Write the result in standard notation

$5.8\times10^{5}=580000$.

Answer:

Standard notation: 580000
Scientific notation: $5.8\times 10^{5}$