Certainly! Let's walk through the problem step by step.
1. We know that there are approximately 1,500,000 bacteria in 1 milliliter of coastal ocean water.
2. We want to find the number of bacteria in 100 milliliters of water.
### Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Identify the number of bacteria in 1 milliliter of water:
[tex]\[
\text{Number of bacteria in 1 milliliter} = 1,500,000
\][/tex]
2. Multiply the number of bacteria per milliliter by the total number of milliliters:
[tex]\[
\text{Total number of bacteria in 100 milliliters} = 1,500,000 \times 100
\][/tex]
3. Perform the multiplication:
[tex]\[
1,500,000 \times 100 = 150,000,000
\][/tex]
4. Express the result in scientific notation:
[tex]\[
150,000,000 = 1.5 \times 10^8
\][/tex]
### Conclusion:
The total number of bacteria in 100 milliliters of coastal ocean water is [tex]\(150,000,000\)[/tex], which is expressed as [tex]\(1.5 \times 10^8\)[/tex] in scientific notation.
Therefore, the correct answer is:
[tex]\[
\boxed{1.5 \times 10^8}
\][/tex]
Hence, the correct option is:
E. [tex]\(1.5 \times 10^8\)[/tex]
