Select the correct answer.

About 1,500,000 bacteria are found in 1 milliliter of coastal ocean water. How many bacteria will be there in 100 milliliters of water?

A. [tex]1.5 \times 10^4[/tex]
B. [tex]1.5 \times 10^5[/tex]
C. [tex]1.5 \times 10^6[/tex]
D. [tex]1.5 \times 10^7[/tex]
E. [tex]1.5 \times 10^8[/tex]



Answer :

To solve the problem of finding the total number of bacteria in 100 milliliters of water when there are about 1,500,000 bacteria in 1 milliliter, we can follow these steps:

1. Given data:
- Number of bacteria per milliliter = 1,500,000 bacteria
- Volume of water = 100 milliliters

2. To find the total number of bacteria in 100 milliliters of water, multiply the number of bacteria per milliliter by the total volume of water (in milliliters):
[tex]\[ \text{Total number of bacteria} = (\text{Number of bacteria per milliliter}) \times (\text{Volume of water in milliliters}) \][/tex]

3. Substitute the given values:
[tex]\[ \text{Total number of bacteria} = 1,500,000 \times 100 \][/tex]

4. Perform the multiplication:
[tex]\[ 1,500,000 \times 100 = 150,000,000 \][/tex]

5. Thus, the total number of bacteria in 100 milliliters of water is 150,000,000.

In scientific notation, 150,000,000 can be written as [tex]\(1.5 \times 10^8\)[/tex].

Hence, the correct answer is:
E. [tex]\(1.5 \times 10^8\)[/tex]