1955 AHSME Problems/Problem 1

Problem

Which one of the following is not equivalent to $0.000000375$ ?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 3.75\times 10^{-7}\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 3\frac{3}{4}\times 10^{-7}\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 375\times 10^{-9}\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \frac{3}{8}\times 10^{-7}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{3}{80000000}$

Solution

First of all, $0.000000375 = 3.75 \times 10^{-7}$ in scientific notation. This eliminates $\textbf{(A)}\ 3.75\times 10^{-7}$ , $\textbf{(B)}\ 3\frac{3}{4}\times 10^{-7}$ , and $\textbf{(C)}\ 375\times 10^{-9}$ immediately. $\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{3}{80000000}$ is a bit harder, but it can be rewritten as $\frac{3}{8} \cdot 10^{-7}$ , which is the same as $\textbf{(D)}$ . Thus, the answer is either $\textbf{(D)}$ or $\textbf{(E)}$ . The original contest had this error in it, although the desired answer was D.

1955 AHSC (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by First Question	Followed by Problem 2
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1955 AHSME Problems/Problem 1

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