what is 5.32 times ten to the eight minus 4.6 time ten to the sixth

To write this problem on with numbers instead of words, it would look like this:

 

5.32 * 10⁸ - 4.6 * 10⁶

 

To be able to subtract things with different exponents you need to convert one of them to the other. So let's convert the 10⁶ to 10⁸. Keep in mind when you are doing this you are raising the 10 by 2 powers of ten. This means that you must reduce the number it is multiplied by (in this case 4.6) by two powers of ten.

 

When you want to reduce a number by powers of ten, you need to move the decimal place to the left for each power of ten that you reduce it. In this case, you need to move the decimal to the left twice and you will get .046

 

Now you can subtract the two terms:

 

5.32 * 10⁸ - 0.046 * 10⁸ ----> 5.274 * 10⁸

 

So 5.274 * 10⁸ is the answer.