The problem asks how many times the annual flow of the Mississippi River ($6.3 \cdot 10^{11}$ cubic meters) would fit into the volume of the Atlantic Ocean ($3.1 \cdot 10^{17}$ cubic meters). The answer should be in scientific notation, rounded to two decimal places.

1. Problem Description

The problem asks how many times the annual flow of the Mississippi River ($6.3 \cdot 10^{11}$ cubic meters) would fit into the volume of the Atlantic Ocean ($3.1 \cdot 10^{17}$ cubic meters). The answer should be in scientific notation, rounded to two decimal places.

2. Solution Steps

To find how many times the Mississippi River fits into the Atlantic Ocean, we need to divide the volume of the Atlantic Ocean by the annual flow of the Mississippi River.

$\frac{3.1 \cdot 10^{17}}{6.3 \cdot 10^{11}} = \frac{3.1}{6.3} \cdot \frac{10^{17}}{10^{11}}$

Using the quotient rule for exponents, we know:

$\frac{a^m}{a^n} = a^{m-n}$

So,

$\frac{10^{17}}{10^{11}} = 10^{17-11} = 10^6$

Now we calculate $\frac{3.1}{6.3} \approx 0.49206$

Therefore,

$\frac{3.1 \cdot 10^{17}}{6.3 \cdot 10^{11}} \approx 0.49206 \cdot 10^6$

We need to write the answer in scientific notation, which requires the coefficient to be between 1 and

1

0. So we rewrite $0.49206 \cdot 10^6$ as $4.9206 \cdot 10^{6-1} = 4.9206 \cdot 10^5$.

The problem asks to round to two decimal places. Rounding $4.9206$ to two decimal places gives $4.92$.

Thus, the final answer is $4.92 \cdot 10^5$.

3. Final Answer

$4.92 \cdot 10^5$