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Q.What do you mean by order of magnitude? Explain.

Jammu Kashmir JkboseJammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (Class 11) 2021Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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Order of magnitude expresses the approximate size of a quantity as the nearest power of 10, useful for quick estimates and comparisons.

Any positive quantity can be expressed in the form N = a x 10^b, where 1 ≤ a < 10 is a decimal number and b is an integer (the exponent). The order of magnitude of the quantity is obtained by rounding the coefficient a to either 1 or 10:

  • If a < 5, the order of magnitude is 10^b.
  • If a ≥ 5, the order of magnitude is 10^(b+1).

For example:

  • The speed of light, 3 x 10^8 m/s, has order of magnitude 10^8 (since 3 < 5, exponent unchanged) — actually rounds to 10^8.
  • The mass of an electron, 9.1 x 10^-31 kg, has order of magnitude 10^-30 (since 9.1 ≥ 5, exponent increases by 1). …

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