What is standard form?
- Standard Form (sometimes called Standard Index Form) is a way of writing very big and very small numbers using powers of 10
Why do we use standard form?
- Writing big (and small) numbers in Standard Form allows us to:
- write them more neatly
- compare them more easily
- and it makes things easier when doing calculations
How do we use standard form?
- Using Standard Form numbers are always written in the form:
a × 10n - The rules:
- 1 ≤ a < 10 so there is one non-zero digit before the decimal point
- n > 0 for LARGE numbers – how many times a is multiplied by 10
- n < 0 for SMALL numbers – how many times a is divided by 10
- Do calculations on a calculator (if allowed)
Otherwise follow normal rules (including indices) but adjust answer to fit Standard Form (move decimal point and change n
Worked Example
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