A strand of hair has an average mass of 2.17×10−5 ounces. A grain of rice has an average mass of 0.002 ounces. How much heavier is a grain of rice than a strand of hair? Express your answer in scientific notation.(1 point)
To find how much heavier a grain of rice is than a strand of hair, we need to subtract the mass of a strand of hair from the mass of a grain of rice.
The mass of a grain of rice is 0.002 ounces and the mass of a strand of hair is 2.17×10^(-5) ounces.
Thus, the difference in mass is 0.002 ounces - 2.17×10^(-5) ounces.
To express this in scientific notation, we can rewrite 0.002 as 2×10^(-3).
Therefore, the difference in mass is (2×10^(-3)) ounces - (2.17×10^(-5)) ounces.
To subtract these values, we need to have the same base, so we need to rewrite (2.17×10^(-5)) ounces as (2.17×10^(-5)×10^2) ounces.
Putting it all together, the difference in mass is (2×10^(-3)) ounces - (2.17×10^(-5)×10^2) ounces.
Simplifying further, we get (2×10^(-3)) ounces - (2.17×10^(-5)×10^2) ounces = (2×10^(-3)) ounces - (2.17×10^(-5)×10^2) ounces
= (2×10^(-3)) ounces - (2.17×10^(-5)×10^2) ounces.
Now, let's multiply the numbers in front of the powers of 10.
(2) - (2.17×10^(-5)×10^2) = 2 - 2.17×10^(-5)×10^2.
Since the values of 2.17×10^(-5) and 10^2 are small, we can ignore them for now.
So, the difference in mass is approximately 2 - 0 = 2 ounces.
Therefore, a grain of rice is 2 ounces heavier than a strand of hair.
Since we need to express the answer in scientific notation, we can write it as 2×10^0.
Thus, a grain of rice is 2×10^0 ounces heavier than a strand of hair.