Astronomy Practice Exam

According to the powers of ten, what is the value of 10⁶?

1. 100

2. 1,000

3. 1,000,000

4. 10,000

The correct answer is: 1,000,000

The value of \(10^6\) is derived from the concept of "powers of ten," which indicates how many times ten is multiplied by itself. In this case, \(10^6\) represents the number 10 multiplied by itself six times: \[ 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \] Calculating this step-by-step: 1. \(10 \times 10 = 100\) 2. \(100 \times 10 = 1,000\) 3. \(1,000 \times 10 = 10,000\) 4. \(10,000 \times 10 = 100,000\) 5. \(100,000 \times 10 = 1,000,000\) Thus, \(10^6 = 1,000,000\). This understanding is crucial not only for grasping decimals and large numbers in scientific notation but also for applications in various fields, including astronomy, where such scales are frequently employed to express distances and sizes. Other answers would correspond to different powers of ten, such as \(10^2\) for 100, \(10^3\) for