SOLUTION: On Peter's summer vacation, he kayaked 1.0 × 106 meters down the Mississippi River. He paddled at a rate of 6.0 × 103 meters per hour. How many hours did he paddle on the river to

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Question 724202: On Peter's summer vacation, he kayaked 1.0 × 106 meters down the Mississippi River. He paddled at a rate of 6.0 × 103 meters per hour. How many hours did he paddle on the river to complete his trip? Round your answer to the nearest 10.
Answer by KMST(5347) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Peter kayaked 1.0 x 10^6 meters at a rate of 6.0 x 10^3 meters per hour.
(That's the correct scientific notation way of expressing one million meters, and six thousand meters per hour, when the values are not known with enough precision to give more than two significant figures).

The number of hours Peter paddled is
(rounded to the nearest 10)

NOTE: The answer 1.7%2A10%5E2 hours makes it clear that we know the answer with enough certainty to give two significant figures, while 170 would make us wonder if that last zero is significant. Since 1.0%2A10%5E6 meters and 6.0%2A10%5E3 meters per hour are given with only two significant figures, the result should have two significant figures.