# Thread: Fill in the [?] in the following: 82 microliters = 8.2 * 10^{[?]} liters

1. ## Fill in the [?] in the following: 82 microliters = 8.2 * 10^{[?]} liters

Just gonna say this in advance if this not technically Algebra II, I'm sorry. I'm stumped. Last resort.

I'd also like to make a point to let anyone know that I'm not really here to LEARN math, just get ANSWERS. I'm sorry if anyone takes offense to that, but it's really just a matter of it being more work than it's worth. It's not that I hate math, quite the opposite actually, I could watch people do math for HOURS and find it fascinating, but if I have to do it myself, NOPE NO WAY, brain isn't gonna do that NOPE.

So anyway, I just want to get some answers, I've been trying for a few hours to figure out how to BS my way through this question. (I do online school) Basically taking guesses and using google to help because I have no clue where to start. I was SURE I got the right answer, by fiddling with google's conversion tool but I then in a moment of pure stupidity I realized I was supposed to be figuring out what the ? means not what the whole equation means. Here's the question:

Fill in the [?]:

. . . . .$\large{ 82\, \mu \mbox{L}\, =\, 8.2\, \times\, 10^{\color{green}{[?]}}\, \mbox{L} }$

The weird uL thing means Micro liters (Which took a while to figure out on it's own.) so if somebody wants to let me know what the question mark represents that'd be fantastic.

Thanks to anyone who takes this up! ;D

2. One of your previous-to-last resorts wasn't simply looking it up?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix

3. It might help to write out 81 microliters without the scientific notation. What I mean is to write it with the decimal point and the 0's before you get to the 82.

4. Originally Posted by Satan
I'd also like to make a point to let anyone know that I'm not really here to LEARN math, just get ANSWERS. I'm sorry if anyone takes offense to that, but it's really just a matter of it being more work than it's worth. It's not that I hate math, quite the opposite actually, I could watch people do math for HOURS and find it fascinating, but if I have to do it myself, NOPE NO WAY, brain isn't gonna do that NOPE.

So anyway, I just want to get some answers, I've been trying for a few hours to figure out how to BS my way through this question. (I do online school) Basically taking guesses and using google to help because I have no clue where to start. I was SURE I got the right answer, by fiddling with google's conversion tool but I then in a moment of pure stupidity I realized I was supposed to be figuring out what the ? means not what the whole equation means. Here's the question:

Fill in the [?]:

. . . . .$\large{ 82\, \mu \mbox{L}\, =\, 8.2\, \times\, 10^{\color{green}{[?]}}\, \mbox{L} }$

The weird uL thing means Micro liters (Which took a while to figure out on it's own.) so if somebody wants to let me know what the question mark represents that'd be fantastic.
As you may have gathered, 1 μL = 0.000001 L. It would follow, then, that 82 μL = 0.0000082 L. In scientific notation, the number represented by the exponent is the number of decimal places that you must move the decimal. Since you have to move to the decimal 6 places to get 8.2, [?]=6.

5. Originally Posted by Sophiexc
As you may have gathered, 1 μL = 0.000001 L. It would follow, then, that 82 μL = 0.0000082 L. In scientific notation, the number represented by the exponent is the number of decimal places that you must move the decimal. Since you have to move to the decimal 6 places to get 8.2, [?]=6.
82 microlitres is 0.000082L, now if I move that to the right to get it above 0, for example 8.2, how many decimal places did I move?

Note the direction is the key to figuring out what you write as the index.

6. Originally Posted by richiesmasher
… 0.000082L, now if I move that to the right to get it above 0 …

Note the direction is the key to figuring out what you write as the index.
Better to say, "the decimal point" than that. I understand you meant this to say something like, "to get a number on the left side of the decimal point ths is from one up to but not including 10." That's part of the definition of Scientific Notation.

I agree that direction 'is key' for what we write as the sign on the exponent.

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