Question

Will the standard form 3.2 × 10^–4 be more or less than 1? Explain what effect the negative exponent has.

Answer 1

$\bf \left.\qquad \qquad \right.\textit{negative exponents}\\\\ a^{-{ n}} \implies \cfrac{1}{a^{ n}} \qquad \qquad \cfrac{1}{a^{ n}}\implies a^{-{ n}} \qquad \qquad a^{{{ n}}}\implies \cfrac{1}{a^{-{{ n}}}}\\\\ -------------------------------\\\\ 3.2\cdot 10^{-4}\implies 3.2\cdot \cfrac{1}{10^4}\implies \cfrac{3.2}{10^4}\implies \cfrac{3.2}{10000}\implies 0.00032~\ \textless \ ~1$