The problem asks to express the speed of light, given as 299,792,458 meters per second, in scientific notation.

1. Problem Description

The problem asks to express the speed of light, given as 299,792,458 meters per second, in scientific notation.

2. Solution Steps

To express a number in scientific notation, we write it in the form $a \times 10^n$, where $1 \le a < 10$ and $n$ is an integer.

The given speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second. We want to express this in scientific notation. First, we need to determine the value of $a$.

Since we need an approximation, we can round 299,792,458 to 300,000,

0

0

0. Now, we write 300,000,000 in scientific notation. To find $a$, we move the decimal point to the left until we have a number between 1 and

1

0. In this case, we move the decimal point 8 places to the left.

$300,000,000 = 3.0 \times 10^8$.

Since the problem asks for the approximate speed, we can write $3 \times 10^8$ meters per second.

3. Final Answer

$3 \times 10^8$ meters per second