$\dfrac{4.8 \times 10^{8}}{1.2 \times 10^{3}} = ?$

$\dfrac{4.8 \times 10^{8}}{1.2 \times 10^{3}} = ?$
  1. $4 \times 10^{5}$
  2. $4 \times 10^{11}$
  3. $0.4 \times 10^{5}$
  4. $4 \times 10^{4}$

Solution

Divide mantissas, subtract exponents: $\dfrac{4.8}{1.2} \times 10^{8-3} = 4 \times 10^{5}$.

Asked in: IMO

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