In 2012, New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles (LA) has the highest populations of any cities in the United States. NYC’s population was about 8.1 × 106 and LA’s population was about 3.8 × 106 . What is the population of these two cities combined?

To find the population of these two cities combined, we need to add their populations: Population of NYC + Population of LA = 8.1 × 10^6 + 3.8 × 10^6 Using the laws of exponents, we can simplify this expression by first converting both numbers to scientific notation with the same power of 10: 8.1 × 10^6 + 3.8 × 10^6 = 8.1 × 10^6 + 0.38 × 10^7 Next, we can add the two numbers: 8.1 × 10^6 + 0.38 × 10^7 = (8.1 + 3.8) × 10^6 = 11.9 × 10^6 Finally, we can convert this number back to standard form: 11.9 × 10^6 = 11,900,000 Therefore, the population of New York City and Los Angeles combined is 11,900,000.