Question

ActivityOn the way home from visiting his family, Vincent’s plane cruised at an altitude of 3.2 × 104 feet. He had heard that a man named Felix Baumgartner skydived from an altitude of 1.28 × 105 feet. Vincent wants to know how much higher Felix went on his skydiving trip.Question 1You have already seen how adding numbers works in either scientific notation or standard notation. But can you subtract numbers in scientific notation and get the same results as subtracting in standard notation? To find out, first solve Vincent’s problem in standard notation.Part AWrite the cruising altitude of Vincent’s plane in standard notation.Part BWrite Felix’s skydiving altitude in standard notation.Part CWhat is the difference of the altitude of Vincent’s plane and Felix’s skydiving altitude?Part DConvert the difference of the altitudes from standard notation to scientific notation.Question 2Now solve the problem using scientific notation.Part ATransform Vincent’s plane’s altitude in scientific notation so that it has the same power of 10 as Felix’s altitude.Part BFind the difference of Vincent’s and Felix’s altitudes.Part CConvert the altitude difference from part B to scientific notation.Part DNow that you’ve subtracted the figures in both scientific notation and standard notation, compare them. Is the altitude for question 1, part D, the same as the altitude for question 2, part C? What does it mean?

Answer 1

Given:

Vincent’s plane cruised at an altitude of

$\text{3}.2\times10^4$

He had heard that a man named Felix Baumgartner skydived from an altitude of

$1.28\times10^5$

Part A

Write the cruising altitude of Vincent’s plane in standard notation.

So, the answer will be =

$3.2\times10^4=3.2\times10000=32000$

Part B

Write Felix’s skydiving altitude in standard notation.

So, the answer will be =

$\text{1}.28\times10^5=1.28\times100000=128000$

Part C

What is the difference between the altitude of Vincent’s plane and Felix’s skydiving altitude?

So, the answer will be =

$128000-32000=96000$

Part D

Convert the difference of the altitudes from standard notation to scientific notation.

So, the answer will be =

$96000=9.6\times10^4$

Now, We will solve the problem using scientific notation.

Part A

Transform Vincent’s plane’s altitude in scientific notation so that it has the same power of 10 as Felix’s altitude.

so, the answer will be =

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