6 × 10⁸
3 × 10⁶
Use the PEMDAS rule to solve these equations.
Parentheses
Exponents
(Multiplication
Division)
(Addition
Subtraction)
Multiplication/division and addition/subtraction are in no particular order; solve from left to right.
6 × 10⁸
Exponents first. Find 10 to the 8th power. Move the decimal (imaginary decimal in front of the 0 in 10) 8 places to the right.
6 × 1,000,000,000
Now multiply 6 by 10⁸.
6,000,000,000 is the answer to 6 × 10⁸.
Now let's solve 3 × 10⁶
Exponents first; solve 10 to the 6th power. Move the decimal point at the front 6 places to the right.
3 × 10,000,000
Multiply.
30,000,000 is the answer to 3 × 10⁶.
Compare both answers: 6,000,000,000 and 30,000,000
Looking at them, you can see that 6 billion has 9 zeros and 30 million has 7 zeros.
Each zero counts for 100; 9 - 7 = 2 (or you can use a calculator to solve 6,000,000,000 ÷ 30,000,000)
You can conclude that 6 × 10⁸ is B) 200 times larger than 3 × 10⁶.
