Video Transcript
The wavelength of blue light is 450
nanometers. What is this value in meters? Give your answer in scientific
notation.
This question is asking us about
the wavelength of blue light, which is given to be 450 nanometers. We need to convert this to
meters. So let’s recall that one nanometer
is equivalent to 10 to the power of negative nine meters. Hence, we can write down that 450
nanometers is equal to 450 times 10 to the power of negative nine meters.
But remember, the question asks us
to give the answer in scientific notation. This is when a number is written as
𝑎 times 10 to the power of 𝑏, where 𝑎 has a value greater than or equal to one
but less than 10 and 𝑏 is an integer. To move toward scientific notation,
let’s first notice that 450 times 10 to the power of negative nine is the same as 45
times 10 to the power of negative eight. We can repeat this process once
again so that our value of 𝑎 becomes 4.5, which fits our requirements. And as a result, the value of 𝑏
becomes negative seven.
Therefore, our final answer is that
450 nanometers is equal to 4.5 times 10 to the power of negative seven meters in
scientific notation.
