Standard Form - GCSE Biology Definition

Reviewed by: Lára Marie McIvor

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In GCSE Biology, standard form is a way of writing very large or very small numbers using powers of ten, making them easier to read and calculate with. A number in standard form is written as a × 10ⁿ, where a is a number between 1 and 10, and n is an integer (positive or negative). This format is useful when working with measurements such as the size of cells or the number of microorganisms, which can involve very small or very large values. For example, 0.000001 can be written as 1 × 10⁻⁶ in standard form. This helps simplify calculations and makes it easier to compare values using orders of magnitude.

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Lára Marie McIvor

Reviewer: Lára Marie McIvor

Expertise: Biology, Psychology & Sociology Subject Lead

Lára graduated from Oxford University in Biological Sciences and has now been a science tutor working in the UK for several years. Lára has a particular interest in the area of infectious disease and epidemiology, and enjoys creating original educational materials that develop confidence and facilitate learning.

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