Question

there are about 10 ^11 stars in the milky way galaxy. if each star has about 10 planets orbiting around it,how many planets are there in the milky way galaxy?

Answer 1

there are 10 times as many planets as stars so

10^11 * 10

Find a neater way to write that....

Answer 2

Playing with units!
10^11 stars/galaxy
10 planets/star
so:
(10 planets/star)*(10^11 stars/galaxy)
= 10*10^11 (planets/star)*(star/galaxy)
cancel common units:
= 10*10^11 (planets/galaxy)*(star/star)
and multiplying constants:
= 10^12 (planets/galaxy)

Answer 3

so the answer is 10^12 ? just adding 1 more 0

Answer 4

@felis

From code of conduct

Don't devalue the question/answer process!
•Don't provide someone with just the answer - explain the process, and help guide them through understanding the problem.
•Don't just provide the answer to a problem when someone else is in the middle of helping! But if you want to help, by all means, join in!

Answer 5

\huge\cal\color{lime}{1,000,000,000,000 LOL}
the way you get it is 10^11 which is 10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10
then because theres another 10x thrown in there multiply the answer by 10

Answer 6

whenever you multiply by 10 you add one more zero

However this is more about exponents

10^1 * 10^11 = 10 ^(11+1) = 10 ^12

Answer 7

dang it didnt work... still helped him out lol

Answer 8

@MrNood I wanted to show how unit cancellation can help inform thinking on word problems, was meaning to add to the understanding of the interpretation of the question :3

Answer 9

ok thanks i got it! and felis the cancellation did help

Answer 10

I'm glad! Remember, if you are ever confused about how to solve a problem, especially a word problem, try writing out the units for all the important numbers, and seeing how they fit together, it can really change how you see the problem!