Lesson Plan

Date: November 2020 (Lesson 12)

Subject: Mathematics
Grade: 8
Topic: Number Theory - Approximation and Estimation
Sub – Topic: Multiplying and Dividing in Standard Form

Specific Objectives
Students should be able to:
1. Correctly multiply and divide numbers in standard form

Multiplying Two Numbers in Standard Form

You can easily multiply and divide standard form without having to convert it back to a
normal number. To do so, we use the laws of indices and simple multiplication operations.

Have a look at the example below. To multiply in standard form, we just need to multiply the
two coefficients together (3.5 x 2) and add the indices (4+5). Then we end up with the answer
which is 7 x 109.

1
Dividing Two Numbers in Standard Form
Dividing standard form is very similar to multiplying standard form. The procedure is the
same just that this time we divide the coefficients and subtract the indices. See the example
below.

Here are some other examples:

Example 3

Activity: Evaluate each of the following:

1. (3.5 × 103 ) × (2 × 10−6 )
2. (5 × 102 ) × (5 × 104 )
3. (6.8 × 103 ) ÷ (2 × 10−1 )
4. (8.4 × 10−5 ) ÷ (4 × 10−1 )