Standard Form

• Standard form is a convenient way of writing very large or very small numbers in terms of
powerss of 10
• Standard form is also known as Scientific notation or Standard Index Form
• In standard form, numbers are written as a × 10 n where 1 ≤ a < 10 and n is an integer.
• To express a number in standard form, we shift the decimal point until the digit part a is
between 1 and 10. This digit a has a decimal point placed after the first digit.
• The power part (10n ) shows how many places to move the decimal point
• The rules of indices apply to calculations in standard form
Example
Write the following numbers in standard form

(a) 82000 (b) 40000 (c) 3000000 (d) 1230

SOLUTION
(a) 8.2 × 104 (b) 4 × 104 (c) 3 × 106 (d) 1.23 × 103

Example
Write the following numbers in standard form

(a) 0.063 (b) 0.0000567 (c) 0.0004 (d) 0.000621

SOLUTION
(a) 6.3 × 10−2 (b) 5.67 × 10−5 (c) 4 × 10−4 (d) 6.21 × 10−4

Example
Express the following numbers in standard form:

(a) 234 × 103 (b) 7680 × 10−7 (c) 34.5 × 10−4 (d) 0.0876 × 105

SOLUTION
(a) 234 × 103 (c) 34.5 × 10−4
234 × 103 = 2.34 × 102 × 103 34.5 × 10−4 = 3.45 × 101 × 10−4
= 2.34 × 102+3 = 3.45 × 101−4
= 2.34 × 105 = 3.45 × 10−3
(b) 7680 × 10−7 (d) 0.0876 × 105
7680 × 10−7 = 7.68 × 103 × 10−7 0.0876 × 105 = 8.76 × 10−2 × 105
= 7.68 × 103−7 = 8.76 × 10−2+5
= 7.68 × 10−4 = 8.76 × 103

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 Example
By expressing each of the numbers in standard form, evaluate the following:

(a) 0.0003 × 0.002 800 0.009×8000

(c) 0.004
(e) 0.002×0.3
0.81
(b) 80000 × 0.0005 (d) 0.02 × 0.0015 (f) 0.0027

SOLUTION
(a) (d)
−4 −3
0.0003 × 0.002 = 3 × 10 × 2 × 10 0.02 × 0.0015 = 2 × 10−2 × 1.5 × 10−3
= (3 × 2) × 10−4+−3 = (2 × 1.5) × 10−2−3
= 6 × 10−7 = 3 × 10−5
(e)
0.009 × 8000 9 × 10−3 × 8 × 103
=
0.002 × 0.3 2 × 10−3 × 3 × 10−1
(b)
(9 × 8) × 10−3+3
80000 × 0.0005 = 8 × 104 × 5 × 10−4 =
(2 × 3) × 10−3+−1
= (8 × 5) × 104−4 72 × 100
= 40 × 100 =
6 × 10−4
= 4 × 101 × 100 = (72 ÷ 6) × 100−−4
= 4 × 100+1 = 12 × 104
= 4 × 101 = 12 × 104
= 1.2 × 101 × 104
= 1.2 × 105
(c) (f)
800 8 × 102 0.81 8.1 × 10−1
= =
0.004 4 × 10−3 0.0027 2.7 × 10−3
= 2 × 102−−3 = (8.1 ÷ 2.7) × 10−1−−3
= 2 × 105 = 3 × 102

Example
Without using a calculator, determine:

(a) (4 × 103 ) × (2 × 104 ) (b) (9 × 105 ) ÷ (3 × 10−3 )

SOLUTION
(a)
(4 × 103 ) × (2 × 104 ) = (4 × 2) × 103+4
= 8 × 107
(b)
(9 × 105 ) ÷ (3 × 10−3 ) = (9 ÷ 3) × 10(5−−3)
= 3 × 108

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 Example
Without using a calculator, determine:

(a) (4 × 103 ) + (2 × 104 ) (b) (9 × 105 ) − (3 × 103 )

SOLUTION
(a)
(4 × 103 ) + (2 × 104 ) = 4000 + 20000
= 24000
= 2.4 × 104
Method 2.Change the indices such that they have the same index
(4 × 103 ) + (2 × 104 ) = (4 × 103 ) + (20 × 103 )
= (4 + 20) × 103
= 24 × 103
= 2.4 × 104
(b)
(9 × 105 ) − (3 × 103 ) = 900000 − 3000
= 897000
= 8.97 × 105
Method 2.Change the indices such that they have the same index
(9 × 105 ) − (3 × 103 ) = (900 × 103 ) − (3 × 103 )
= (900 − 3) × 103
= 897 × 103
= 8.97 × 105

1 Exercise Set

1. Write each of the following numbers in standard form:

(a) 4000 (c) 6 000 000 (e) 870 000 (g) 81 900 000 000
(b) 9000 (d) 87 000 (f) 24 000 000 000 (h) 7 35.234

2. Write each of the following numbers in standard form:

(a) 0.05 (c) 0.5682 (e) 124.00688 (g) 245.12

(b) 210.00856 (d) 0.00004356 (f) 0.00000098 (h) 0.00000000000023

3. Without using a calculator, evaluate the following give your answer in standard form:

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 (a) (5 × 105 ) × (2 × 10−5 ) (f) (2 × 103 ) + (3 × 103 )
(b) (9 × 105 ) × (4 × 103 ) (g) (5 × 105 ) − (2 × 102 )
(c) (8 × 106 ) ÷ (4 × 10−3 ) (h) (7 × 102 ) − (5 × 101 )
(d) (6 × 102 ) ÷ (3 × 103 ) (i) 4000 × 8000 ÷ 640
(e) (9.8 × 103 ) + (2.5 × 103 ) (j) (6.5 × 108 ) ÷ (1.3 × 104 ) × (5 × 103 )

4. If x = 3 × 103 and y = 2 × 102 ,work out the value of

(a) xy (c) x − y
(b) x + y (d) x ÷ y

0.0035
5. Without using a calculator or tables, evaluate: 0.07×0.2
6. Without using a calculator or tables, evaluate: 0.42×0.35×0.0015
0.049×0.003

7. The radius of the earth is 6.4 × 106 m. Giving your answers in standard form, correct to 3
significant figures, calculate the circumference of the earth .Take π = 314 × 10−2