<PRE><B>Question 875484</B>
your expression is:


.003 * 10^-2


the standard form would be 3.0 * 10 raised to an exponent.


in order to make 3.0 equivalent to .003, you have to divide it by 1000.


you get:


3 / 1000 = .003


this is the same as 3 * 1/1000 = .003


since 1/1000 equals 1/10^3 which is the same as 1 * 10^-3 which is the same as 10^-3, you get:


3 * 10^-3 = .003


your original expression is .003 * 10^-2


replace .003 with 3 * 10^-3 to get:


3 * 10^-3 * 10^-2 which is equal to 3 * 10^-3-2) which is equal to:


3 * 10^-5


you are correct.


confirm by using your calculator to get:


.003 * 10^-2 = .00003


3 * 10^-5 = .00003


actually my calculator said that .003 * 10^-2 = 3 * 10^-5.
it gave me the answer in scientific notation.
calculator do that sometimes.







</PRE>