37. two years ago, bob flew 6 x 105 miles in an airplane. this was 15 times as many
miles as he flew last year.
how many miles did bob fly last year?
a. 4* 104 miles
b. 4 x 106 miles
c. 9 x 104 miles
d. 9 * 106 miles

  A.  4·10⁴

Step-by-step explanation:

The problem statement tells you ...

  6×10⁵ miles = 15 × (last year's mileage)

Dividing by 15 gives ...

  (60×10⁴ miles)/15 = (last year's mileage) = 4×10⁴ miles

Further explanation

An exponent is an indication of repeated multiplication.

  10⁵ = 10·10·10·10·10 = 100,000

We can use the associative property of multiplication to rewrite the number of miles:

  6×10⁵ = 6·(10·10·10·10·10) = 600,000 = (6·10)·(10·10·10·10) = 60×10⁴

if a = 1,   and b = 2, then the answer is 47.99999999. if you round that to the nearest whole number, the answer is 48.