The aim of this question is to learn unit conversions between different customary units in use in the United States of America.
Rhode Island is the smallest state out of all the states within mainland of the United States of America. Its area is 776,960 acres. Although the international unit of area is square meters, there are many units that are used in the United States. These include square miles, square kilometers, square foot, and square yards. The interconversion of these units is essentially required during any engineering project, therefore it’s necessary to understand these area unit conversions.
Different units of area are related with each other as follows:
\[ 1 \ \text{ square yards } \ = \ 9 \ \text{ square foot } \]
\[ 1 \ acre \ = \ 43560 \ \text{ square foot } \]
\[ 1 \ \text{ square miles } \ = \ 2.78 \times 10^{ 7 } \ \text{ square foot } \]
\[ 1 \ \text{ square kilometers } \ = \ 1.076 \times 10^{ 7 } \ \text{ square foot } \]
Expert Answer
The area of Rhode Island in acres is given as follows:
\[ \text{ Area of Rhode Island } \ = \ 776960 \ acres \]
Since:
\[ 1 \ acre \ = \ 43560 \ \text{ square foot } \]
Substituting this value in the above equation:
\[ \text{ Area of Rhode Island } \ = \ 776960 \ ( \ 43560 \ \text{ square foot } \ ) \]
\[ \text{ Area of Rhode Island } \ = \ 33844377600 \ \text{ square foot } \ ) \]
In scientific notation:
\[ \text{ Area of Rhode Island } \ = \ 3.38 \ \times \ 10^{ 10 } \ \text{ square foot } \ ) \]
Which is the required answer.
Numerical Result
\[ \text{ Area of Rhode Island } \ = \ 3.38 \ \times \ 10^{ 10 } \ \text{ square foot } \ ) \]
Example
Given the area of Rhode Island as calculated in the above question, Find the area of Alaska (the largest state in the United States of America) in square feet, acres, square miles, and square kilometers given that it is $ 5.5 \times 10^{ 2 } $ times larger than Rhodes Island (the smallest state in the United States of America).
\[ \text{ Area of Alaska } \ = \ 776960 ( 5.5 \times 10^{ 2 } ) \ acres \ = \ 4.27 \times 10^{ 7 } \ acres \]
\[ \text{ Area of Alaska } \ = \ ( 3.38 \times 10^{ 10 } ) ( 5.5 \times 10^{ 2 } ) \ \text{ square foot } \ = \ 1.86 \times 10^{ 12 } \ \text{ square foot } \]
\[ \text{ Area of Alaska } \ = \ \dfrac{ 1.86 \times 10^{ 12 } }{ 2.78 \times 10^{ 7 } } \ \text{ square mile } \ = \ 6.69 \times 10^{ 4 } \ \text{ square mile } \]
\[ \text{ Area of Alaska } \ = \ \dfrac{ 1.86 \times 10^{ 12 } }{ 1.076 \times 10^{ 7 } } \ \text{ square yards} \ = \ 1.73 \times 10^{ 5 } \ \text{ square yards } \]