Question

Express the given information in Scientific notation (standard form) and then arrange them in ascending order of their size.

Sl.No.	Deserts of the World	Area (Sq. Kilometres)
1.	Kalahari, South Africa	932,400
2.	Thar, India	199,430
3.	Gibson, Australia	155,400
4.	Great Victoria, Australia	647,500
5.	Sahara, North Africa	8,598,800

Answer 1

1. Area of Kalahari, South Africa = 932,400

= 932400.00  ......[∴ Standard form a × 10^k]

= 9324 × 10² 

= 9.324 × 10³ × 10² 

= 9.324 × 10⁶

2. Area of Thar, India = 199,430

= 199430.00

= 19943 × 10¹ 

= 1.9943 × 10⁴ × 10¹ 

= 1.9943 × 10⁵

3. Area of Gibson, Australia = 155,400

= 155400.00

= 1554 × 10² 

= 1.554 × 10³ × 10² 

= 1.554 × 10⁵

4. Area of Great Victoria, Australia = 647,500

= 647500.00

= 6475 × 10² 

= 6.475 × 10³ × 10⁵ 

= 6475 × 10⁵

5. Area of Sahara, North-Africa = 8,598,800

= 8598800.00

= 85988 × 10² 

= 8.5988 × 10⁴ × 10² 

= 85988 × 10⁶

Two numbers written in scientific notation can be compared. The number with the larger power of 10 is greater than the number with the smaller power of 10. If the powers of ten are the same, then the number with larger factor is the larger number.

Hence, required ascending order of the size will be Gibson, Australia < Thar, India < Great Victoria, Australia < Kalahari, South-Africa < Sahara, North-Africa.