How do you simplify #\frac { 2.3\times 10^ { 4} } { 2.0\times 10^ { - 3} }#?

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Answer 1 · 2017-09-03T05:47:21

#1.15 * 10^7#

Remember that powers divided by each other are subtracted:

#a^m/a^n = a^(m-n)#

So something that I like to do is that I section off the powers from the numbers, to make the calculations easier.

First I do calculations with the powers:
#10^4/10^-3#

#=10^(4--3)#

#=10^7#

Then, I do the calculations with the numbers:

#=2.3/2.0 * 10^7#

#=1.15 * 10^7#

Hope this helps!