Which of the following represents 52 thousandths in scientific notation?

• A. 5.2 \times 10^{-2}
• B. 5.2 \times 10^{-3}
• C. 5.2 \times 10^{3}
• D. 5.2 \times 10^{-4}

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the meaning of '52 thousandths.' This is a decimal number representing 52 parts out of 1000, which can be written as 0.052.
2. Recall that scientific notation expresses numbers as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10, in the form \(a \times 10^{n}\) where \$1 \leq a < 10\( and \)n$ is an integer.
3. Convert 0.052 into scientific notation by moving the decimal point to the right of the first non-zero digit. Count how many places the decimal moves to determine the exponent.
4. Since the decimal point moves 2 places to the right to get 5.2, the exponent will be negative because the original number is less than 1. So, the exponent is \(-2\).
5. Write the number in scientific notation as \$5.2 \times 10^{-2}$ and compare it with the given options to identify the correct representation of 52 thousandths.