A human hair was measured to be 8.0×10−4 inch thick. A cat hair was measured to be 4.0×10−1 inch thick. How much greater is the thickness of the cat hair than the human hair? Write the answer in standard form
Human hair: 8.0 x 10-4 = 0.00080
Cat hair: 4.0 x 10-1 = 0.40
Subtracting: 0.40 - 0.00080 = 0.3992
Using rules of precision, the answer becomes 0.40
Geno's interpretation is valid but I interpreted it differently.
(4.0∗10−1)÷(8.0∗10−4)=(4.0∗10−1)(8.0∗10−4)=48∗10−110−4=12∗10−1−−4=0.5∗103=500
The cat hair is 500 times thicker than the human hair :)
That sounds like an awful lot - That cat sure have fat hairs!