A company used about #7.4 times 10^5# sheets of paper in a month. Of the paper used during the month, the accounting department used about #8.9 times 10^3# of the sheets. About how many sheets of paper were used by other departments during the month?

Question

Ethan Adkins · Accepted Answer

undefined To find out how many sheets of paper were used by other departments during the month, subtract the number of sheets used by the accounting department from the total number of sheets used:

Total sheets used = $7.4 \times 10^5$  
Sheets used by accounting department = $8.9 \times 10^3$

Subtracting, we get:
$7.4 \times 10^5 - 8.9 \times 10^3$

To subtract, ensure both numbers are written in scientific notation with the same exponent. We can rewrite $8.9 \times 10^3$ as $0.89 \times 10^4$, then subtract:

$7.4 \times 10^5 - 0.89 \times 10^4$

Now, subtract the coefficients:
$7.4 - 0.89 = 6.51$

And keep the exponent the same:
$10^5$

So, the other departments used approximately $6.51 \times 10^5$ sheets of paper during the month.

Nathan Axel · Answer

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