Standard form

A. What is standard form?

A standard form number will look like a x 10b

Where a is a number between 1 and 10 and b is an integer

We use standard form so that we can work with long numbers,

numbers that would be too long to fit on a calculator screen.
e.g. 400000000000000000000000 or 0.00000000000000000000275

B. Writing large numbers in standard form

Remember the starting number must be between 1 and 10
It is not the
number of zeros
a. 300000 = 3 x 105 (5 jumps) b. 7400 = 7.4 x 103 (3 jumps) on the end

c. 800 = 8 x 102 (2 jumps) d. 56300000 = 5.63 x 107 (7 jumps)

C. Writing small numbers in standard form

a. 0.00023 = 2.3 x 10-4 (4 jumps) b. 0.05 = 5 x 10-2 (2 jumps)

c. 0.0000084 = 8.4 x 10-6 (6 jumps) d. 0.7 = 7 x 10-1 (1 jump)

1
e. 0.00029 = 2.9 x 10-4 (4 jumps) f. = 0.001 = 1 x 10
-3
(3 jumps)
1000

D. Writing as ordinary numbers

a. 6 x 104 = 60000 (4 jumps) b. 3.9 x 105 = 390000 (5 jumps)

c. 3.42 x 107 = 34200000 (7 jumps) d. 6 x 10-2 = 0.06 (2 jumps)

e. 7.098 x 10-3 = 0.007098 (3 jumps) f. 1.75 x 10-1 = 0.175 (1 jump)

E. Ordering
Write all as numbers
Put the numbers into order, smallest first or all as standard form

a. 0.15, 15 x 10-3, 1.5 x 101, 15 x 10-1

0.15, 0.015, 15, 1.5 or 1.5 x 10-1, 1.5 x 10-2, 1.5 x 101, 1.5 x 100
nd st th rd
2 1 4 3 2nd 1st 4th 3rd

Answer = 15 x 10-3, 0.15, 15 x 10-1, 1.5 x 101 Already standard form, so

look at the powers first,
b. 7.4 x 107, 6.3 x 106, 2.35 x 108, 8.1 x 107, 2.18 x 107 then the numbers if any
powers are the same

Answer = 6.3 x 106, 2.18 x 107 7.4 x 107, 8.1 x 107, 2.35 x 108

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 Standard form
F. Evaluating – Multiplication and Division (Non-calculator method)

When multiplying or dividing treat the number parts and power of 10 parts separately,
then make sure your final answer is in correct standard form

a. 2 x 106 x 3 x 105 = 6 x 1011

b. 3 x 108 x 4 x 105 = 12 x 1013 = 1.2 x 1014

3 x 4 = 12 Correct standard form needed.

Add the powers when multiplying 8 + 5 =13 One part decreases so one part increases

c. 9 x 1012 ÷ 2 x 104 = 4.5 x 108

d. 3 x 10-4 x 7 x 10-5 = 21 x 10-9 = 2.1 x 10-8

e. 2.6 x 10-7 x 8 x 10-12 = 20.8 x 10-19 = 2.08 x 10-18

G. Evaluating – Addition and Subtraction (Non-calculator method)

When adding or subtracting either:

convert out of standard form, do the sum then convert back to standard form
or make the powers of 10 the same, do the sum then ensure your final answer is in
correct standard form (this is easiest)

a. 2.5 x 107 + 3 x 106 or 2.5 x 107 = 25000000

7 7
= 2.5 x 10 + 0.3 x 10 3 x 106 = 3000000+
= 2.8 x 107 One part decreases so
28000000
one part increases = 2.8 x 107

When the powers of 10 are large it is very awkward to keep all the digits in
the correct columns to add or subtract them correctly
so keeping the numbers in standard form is recommended

a. 8.47 x 1015 + 6.8 x 1014 b. 6.17 x 1019 – 2.53 x 1018

= 8.47 x 1015 + 0.68 x 1015 = 6.17 x 1019 – 0.253 x 1019
=8.47 = 56 . 11 67 10
0.68+ 0 . 2 5 3-
9.15 = 9.15 x 1015 5 . 9 1 7 = 5.917 x 1019

H. Using a calculator

You must learn how to use the standard form features of your calculator
for use in your calculator examinations

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 Standard form
Non-calculator

Exercise A Write using standard form

1. 20000000 2. 5700 3. 26600000000

4. 0.04 5. 0.00073 6. 0.0000000148

1
7. 150 8. 3 million 9. million
4
10. 0.73 million 11. Six hundred thousand 12. 0.05 million

Exercise B Write as ordinary numbers

1. 9 x 106 2. 5.06 x 104 3. 3.7 x 102

4. 1.0072 x 105 5. 2.631 x 106 6. 4.2 x 10-5

7. 2.34 x 10-1 8. 8.44 x 10-2 9. 5.76 x 100

Exercise C Write using standard form

1. 350 x 102 2. 74 x 105 3. 531 x 10-4

4. 0.832 x 10-4 5. 0.0012 x 106 6. 532000 x 107

Exercise D Put into order of size, smallest first

1. 7.8 x 1012, 6.2 x 107, 9.05 x 1011, 5.76 x 108, 7.42 x 109

2. 3.65 x 109, 4.83 x 108, 7.14 x 106, 3.7 x 109, 4.9 x 108

3. 5.3 x 10-3, 2.7 x 10-2, 3.45 x 10-3, 8.6 x 10-4, 4.35 x 10-4

4. 2.71 x 105, 8.4 x 105, 52.1 x 104, 0.38 x 106, 6 x 105

5. 2500, 2.5 x 101, 0.25 x 105, 250 x 100, 0.25million
Exercise E Evaluate, giving your answer in standard form

1. 4 x 107 x 2 x 104 2. 3.5 x 109 x 2 x 106 3. 6.4 x 105 x 2 x 104

4. 3.8 x 106 x 3 x 108 5. 2.1 x 109 x 4 x 10-3 6. 8 x 10-2 x 6 x 107

7 x 108
7. 4 x 10-6 x 8 x 10-5 8. 5 x 10-7 x 8.2 x 103 9.
2 x 102
6.4 x 107 3 x 1012 5.6 x 108
10. 11. 12.
2 x 103 6 x 104 2 x 10−5
6 x 10−8 2 x 10−15 9 x 10−9
13. 14. 15.
3 x 102 8 x 103 4 x 10−3

16. 7.6 x 106 + 2 x 105 17. 4.95 x 107 + 6.7 x 106 18. 6.284 x 1024 + 7.9 x 1023

19. 9.7 x 1021 + 6 x 1020 20. 6.4 x 10-6 + 3.8 x 10-7 21. 8.73 x 105 – 5.2 x 104

22. 6.28 x 1017 – 4.5 x 1016 23. 3.26 x 1023 – 7.45 x 1022 24. 6.7 x 10-15 - 4.3 x 10-16

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 Standard form

Exercise F Given that A = 5 x 109 B = 4 x 108 C = 2 x 103. Evaluate

1. A + B 2. A2 3. A−B
C
4. ABC 5. √B

Exercise G Give all your answers in standard form

1.
a) Calculate the area of the rectangle
4 x 104 mm
b) Find the perimeter of the rectangle
6 x 104 mm

2.
a) Calculate the area of the rectangle
4
3 x 10 cm

b) Find the perimeter of the rectangle

5
7.6 x 10 cm

3.
A
a. Calculate the area of the triangle

3 x 108 cm
b. Calculate the length AB

C B
4 x 108 cm c. Find the perimeter of the triangle

Calculator

Exercise A Evaluate, writing your answer in standard form correct to 3 significant figures

7.96 x 109 x 5.2 x 1012 2.84 x 1011 x 3.6 x 1015

1. 2.
2 x 104 7.26 x 10−5

8.41x 10−17 x 2.5 x 1011 500 million

3. 4.
3.9 x 10−3 3.58 x 10−2

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 Standard form
Answers non-calculator
Exercise A
1. 2 x 107 2. 5.7 x 103 3. 2.66 x 1010
4. 4 x 10-2 5. 7.3 x 10-4 6. 1.48 x 10-8
7. 1.5 x 102 8. 3 x 106 9. 2.5 x 105
10. 7.3 x 105 11. 6 x 105 12. 5 x 104
Exercise B
1. 9000000 2. 50600 3. 370
4. 100720 5. 2631000 6. 0.000042
7. 0.234 8. 0.0844 9. 5.76
Exercise C
1. 3.5 x 104 2. 7.4 x 106 3. 5.31 x 10-2
4. 8.32 x 10-5 5. 1.2 x 103 6. 5.32 x 1012
Exercise D
1. 6.2 x 107, 5.76 x 108, 7.42 x 109, 9.05 x 1011, 7.8 x 1012
2. 7.14 x 106, 4.83 x 108, 4.9 x 108, 3.65 x 109, 3.7 x 109
3. 4.35 x 10-4, 8.6 x 10-4, 3.45 x 10-3, 5.3 x 10-3, 2.7 x 10-2
4. 2.71 x 105, 0.38 x 106, 52.1 x 104, 6 x 105, 8.4 x 105
5. 2.5 x 101, 250 x 100, 2500, 0.25 x 105, 0.25million
Exercise E
1. 8 x 1011 2. 7 x 1015 3. 12.8 x 109 = 1.28 x 1010
4. 11.4 x 1014 = 1.14 x 1015 5. 8.4 x 106 6. 48 x 105 = 4.8 x 106
7. 32 x 10-11 = 3.2 x 10-10 8. 41 x 10-4 = 4.1 x 10-3 9. 3.5 x 106
10. 3.2 x 104 11. 0.5 x 108 = 5 x 107 12. 2.8 x 1013
13. 2 x 10-10 14. 0.25 x 10-18 = 2.5 x 10-19 15. 2.25 x 10-6
16. 7.8 x 106 17. 5.62 x 107 18. 7.074 x 1024
19. 10.3 x 1021 = 1.03 x 1022 20. 6.78 x 10-6 21. 8.21 x 105
22. 5.83 x 1017 23. 2.515 x 1023 24. 6.27 x 10-15
Exercise F
1. 5.4 x 109 2. 25 x 1018 = 2.5 x 1019 3. 2.3 x 106
4. 40 x 1020 = 4 x 1021 5. 2 x 104
Exercise G
1. a.24 x 108 = 2.4 x 109 mm2 b. 20 x 104 = 2 x 105 mm
2. a. 22.8 x 109 = 2.28 x 1010 cm2 b. 15.8 x 105 = 1.58 x 106 cm
3. a. 6 x 1016 cm2 b. 5 x 108 cm c. 12 x 108 = 1.2 x 109 cm
Answers calculator
Exercise A
1. 2.0696 x 1018 = 2.07 x 1018 (3sf) 2. 1.4082644 x 1031 = 1.41 x 1031 (3sf)
3. 5.391025 x 10-3 = 5.39 x 10-3 (3sf) 4. 1.3966480 x 10-10 = 1.40 x 10-10 (3sf)

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