Solve this word problem.

At the end of 2005, the national debt for the U.S. was about 10 trillion dollars, and the population of the U.S. was about 10^8.
About how much, per person, was the debt?

Question

Solve this word problem.


At the end of 2005, the national debt for the U.S. was about 10 trillion dollars, and the population of the U.S. was about 10^8.
About how much, per person, was the debt?

jdoe0001 · Answer

well...  1 million is 1 and 6 zeros, 1,000,000
one billion is 1000 million, or 1 and 9 zeros, 1,000,000,000
one trillion is 1000 billions, or 1 and 12 zeros

anyway, not to choke you with the zeros, but 1 and 12 zeros would be $\bf 10^{12}$

so... there are $\bf 10^8$ folks
how much per head?
well  $\bf \cfrac{10^{12}}{10^8}$

anonymous · Answer

but you could reduce that further to $$10^{4}$$
Right?

jdoe0001 · Answer

yeap   $\bf \cfrac{10^{12}}{10^8}\implies \cfrac{10^{12}}{1}\cdot \cfrac{1}{10^8}\implies 
\cfrac{10^{12}}{1}\cdot 10^{{\color{red}{  -8}}}\implies 10^{12{\color{red}{  -8}}}\implies 10^4$