E.23 Part B

[Brandon Tao 1K]

I am confused as to how the scientific notation would affect the problem. For some reason I cannot seem to have the right scientific notation. I understand the process and work in regards to the problem, however I can't seem to be able to denote the values in correct scientific notation.

[Daniel Chen 2L]

Scientific notation is basically a way of writing a number that's too big or too small in a more convenient form. For example, if you have a large number like 145,000,000, you can simplify this into 1.45 * 10^8. Or, if you have a small number like 0.000000145, then you can simplify this into 1.45 * 10^-7. Essentially what you're doing is moving the decimal places left (negative) or right (positive) based on the power of the 10. Let's explain this with the previous examples. In the first example, 1.45 * 10^8, you move the decimal point 8 digits to the right, making it 145,000,000. In the second example, 1.45 * 10^-7, you move the decimal point 7 digits to left, making it 0.000000145.

[preyasikumar_2L]

The question is asking for how many moles of SO3 are in 7.00 x 10^2 mg of SO3. It's easier to look at everything in grams so 7.00 x 10^2 mg is the same as 7.00 x 10^2 x 10^-3 g, which is the same as 7.00 x 10^-1 g, or 0.700 g. Converting that into moles using the molar mass of SO3, which is 80.06 g/mol, you get 0.00874 mol, which is 8.74 x 10^-3 mol.

[Alan Huang 1E]

Scientific notation is a way of writing very large or very small numbers. A number is written in scientific notation when a number between 1 and 10 is multiplied by a power of 10. Numbers smaller than 1 would be multiplied by a negative power of 10. If you aren't getting correct numbers, you should check if your calculator is in the scientific mode.