What is the decimal form of 3 x 10^8 m/s?

What is the decimal form of 3 x 10^8 m/s?

• A. 3 x 10^8 m/s
• B. 30,000,000 m/s
• C. 3,000,000,000 m/s
• D. 300,000,000 m/s

Answer: (D)

Converting from scientific notation to ordinary decimal form is what this question tests. 3 × 10^8 means three times ten raised to the eighth power. Since 10^8 equals 100,000,000, multiplying by 3 gives 300,000,000. So the decimal form is 300,000,000 m/s. That shows the same value as the scientific notation, just written with all digits. The other numbers represent different magnitudes (for example, 30,000,000 m/s is 3 × 10^7, and 3,000,000,000 m/s is 3 × 10^9), none of which match 3 × 10^8.

Converting from scientific notation to ordinary decimal form is what this question tests. 3 × 10^8 means three times ten raised to the eighth power. Since 10^8 equals 100,000,000, multiplying by 3 gives 300,000,000. So the decimal form is 300,000,000 m/s. That shows the same value as the scientific notation, just written with all digits. The other numbers represent different magnitudes (for example, 30,000,000 m/s is 3 × 10^7, and 3,000,000,000 m/s is 3 × 10^9), none of which match 3 × 10^8.