Scientific Notation Problem Solving

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🔬 Part 1: Real-World Applications

1. The distance from Earth to the Sun is approximately 9.3 × 10⁷ miles. Light travels at 1.86 × 10⁵ miles per second. How many seconds does it take for sunlight to reach Earth?

2. A human red blood cell has a diameter of about 7.5 × 10⁻⁶ meters. If you lined up 1.0 × 10⁴ red blood cells end to end, what would be the total length in meters?

3. The mass of a hydrogen atom is 1.67 × 10⁻²⁷ kilograms. How many hydrogen atoms would you need to equal a mass of 3.34 × 10⁻²⁰ kilograms?

🌌 Part 2: Space and Science Calculations

4. The Milky Way galaxy contains approximately 4.0 × 10¹¹ stars. If each star has an average mass of 2.0 × 10³⁰ kilograms, what is the total mass of all stars in the Milky Way?

5. A bacterium reproduces by dividing every 20 minutes. Starting with 3.0 × 10² bacteria, how many bacteria will there be after 6 divisions? (Each division doubles the population.)