What is the scientific notation for 300,000,000 m/s?

What is the scientific notation for 300,000,000 m/s?

• A. 3 x 10^8 m/s
• B. 3 x 10^6 m/s
• C. 3 x 10^9 m/s
• D. 30 x 10^6 m/s

Answer: (A)

Expressing very large numbers in scientific notation means writing a coefficient between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten. To represent 300,000,000, place the decimal after the first nonzero digit: 3.0 × 10^8. The eight indicates moving the decimal eight places to the right to get back to 300,000,000. The concise form is 3 × 10^8 m/s, with the units remaining m/s. Other options would correspond to 3,000,000; 3,000,000,000; and 30,000,000 respectively, which do not match the given value. This is exactly how the speed of light in vacuum is written in scientific notation.

Expressing very large numbers in scientific notation means writing a coefficient between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten. To represent 300,000,000, place the decimal after the first nonzero digit: 3.0 × 10^8. The eight indicates moving the decimal eight places to the right to get back to 300,000,000. The concise form is 3 × 10^8 m/s, with the units remaining m/s. Other options would correspond to 3,000,000; 3,000,000,000; and 30,000,000 respectively, which do not match the given value. This is exactly how the speed of light in vacuum is written in scientific notation.