How many times smaller is 2.7 × 103 than 5.481 × 105?
a) 49
b) 203
c) 0.49
d) 2.03
To find the ratio of two numbers in scientific notation, we divide the second number by the first number:
(5.481 × 10^5) / (2.7 × 10^3) = (5.481 / 2.7) × (10^5 / 10^3) = 2.03333333333 × 10^2 = 2.033 × 10^2.
Therefore, the second number is 2.033 times (approximately) the size of the first number. So the first number is 1/2.033 of the second number.
This means that the first number is approximately 0.4916 (1/2.033) times smaller than the second number.
Therefore, the answer is c) 0.49 (rounded to two decimal places).