Scientific Notation Word Problems

A microgram is equal to 1 x 10 -6 grams. How many times greater than a microgram is 1 x 102 grams?

• 1 x 10^-8

• 1 x 10^-4

• 1 x 10⁴

• 1 x 10⁸

The US spends an average of 1.02x10⁴ dollars on each student per year.  There are about 7.6x10⁷ students in the US.  About how much money total is spent on students per year?

• 7.752 x 10¹¹

• 7.752 x 10²⁸

• 8.62 x 10¹¹

• 8.62 x 10²⁸

As part of a community service project, a class planted 7x10⁵  trees in a year.  If there are 3.5x10³ students in the school, how many trees did each student plant?

• 2 x 10⁸

• 2 x 10²

• 3.5 x 10⁸

• 3.5 x 10²

The distance from the sun to the Andromeda galaxy is 1.2 x 10¹⁹ miles. Light travels at a speed of 5.88 x 10¹² miles per year (called a light-year). How long does it take light from the sun to the Andromeda galaxy?

• 2.04 x 10⁶ years

• 2.04 x 10⁷ years

• 7.056 x 10²¹ years

• 7.056 x 10⁷ years

The mass of he sun is 1.989 x 10³⁰ kilograms. The mass of the earth is 5.98 x 10²⁴ kilograms. How many times bigger is the sun than the earth?

• 3.326 x 10⁵

• 3.326 x 10⁶

• 1.99 x 10³⁰

• 1.99 x 10⁶

Total health care costs in the United States in 2016 was $1.7 trillion. he US population was 290.9 million. What was the average amount spent per person on health care?

• $5844

• $584.40

• $58.40

• $58440

If a computer can perform an addition operation in 1.5 x 10^-6 seconds, how long will it take to perform 1500 such operations?

• 2.25 x 10^-3 seconds

• 2.25 x 10^-6 seconds

• 2.25 seconds

• 2.25 x 10⁶ seconds

In the year 2000, the United States public debt was about 5.6 x 10¹² dollars. The population of the United States in that year was about 2.8 x 10⁸ people. What was the average debt per person?

• Multiply

• Divide

The pitch of a sound is determined by the number of vibrations produced per second. The note “middle C” produces 2.62 x 10² vibrations per second. If a pianist plays middle C for 5 x 10^-1 seconds, how many vibrations will occur? Which operation would you use to solve this problem?

• Multiply

• Divide

The Colorado Department of Education spent about 4.408 x 10⁹ in fiscal year 2004-2005 on public schools. There were about 7.6 x 10⁵ students enrolled in public school. What was the average spending per student?

• Multiply

• Divide