Powers, Roots & Standard Form (Edexcel IGCSE Maths A: Higher): Exam Questions

Exam code: 4MA1

3 hours53 questions
1
2 marks

Write these numbers in order of size. Start with the smallest number.

51

0.5

5

50

2
1 mark

Show that 12523 is the same as 25

3
1 mark

Show that 32 is equal to 19

4a
1 mark

Write 7.8×104 as an ordinary number.

4b
1 mark

Write 95 600 000 as a number in standard form.

5
2 marks

Work out the value of  (7.5 ×104) × (2.5 × 103) 
Give your answer in standard form.

6
1 mark

Write 0.000068 in standard form.

7a
1 mark

Write 0.000423 in standard form.

7b
1 mark

Write 4.5 × 104 as an ordinary number.

8a
1 mark

Write  0.00562 in standard form.

8b
1 mark

Write 1.452 × 103 as an ordinary number.

9
1 mark

Write down the reciprocal of 5.

10
1 mark

Write 517 × 52 as a single power of 5 

11a
1 mark

Write down the value of m, given that  34 ×  35 = 3m

m =.................................. 

11b
1 mark

Write down the value of n, given that (53)7=5n

n =.............................

11c
2 marks

Find the value of p, given that 78×727p=76

p = .......................................................

12a
1 mark

Write 2.46×106 as an ordinary number.

12b
1 mark

Write 0.000 74 in standard form.

13
1 mark

Circle the number that is written in standard form.

0.9 × 10–3

6 × 100.5

5.2 × 10–4

12 × 107

14
1 mark

Circle the expression that has the largest value when    a < 1

12a

a

a2

a3

15a
2 marks

Write these numbers in standard form.

i) 6500

[1]

ii) 0.0584

[1]

15b
1 mark

Work out (4.2 ×105)×(1.8×102) giving your answer in standard form.

16a
2 marks

A grain of salt weighs 6.48 × 105 kg on average.

A packet contains 0.35 kg of salt.

Use this information to calculate the number of grains of salt in the packet.

16b
1 mark

Explain why your answer to part (a) is unlikely to be the actual number of grains of salt in the packet.

17
4 marks

Tom researches the weights of plant seeds.

  • One poppy seed weighs 3×104 grams

  • 250 pumpkin seeds weigh 21 grams.

  • One sesame seed weighs 3.64×106 kilograms.

Write the three types of seed in order according to the weight of one seed. Write the lightest type of seed first. You must show how you decide.

18
5 marks

A newborn baby has an approximate mass of 3.5 kilograms.

A human cell has an approximate mass of 2.7 × 10–11 grams.

Use these values to estimate the number of human cells in a newborn baby.
Give your answer in standard form, correct to 2 significant figures.

19a
1 mark

Write 76 000 000 in standard form.

19b
1 mark

Write 5.4 × 10–4 as an ordinary number.

20a
1 mark

Write 5.87×104 as an ordinary number

20b
1 mark

Write 84 000 000 in standard form.

20c
2 marks

The number of neurons in a human brain is 8.5×1010
The number of neurons in a monkey brain is 1.47× 109

The number of neurons in a human brain is K × the number of neurons in a monkey brain.

Work out the value of K
Give your answer correct to one decimal place

1
3 marks

One sheet of paper is  9 × 103cm thick.

Mark wants to put  500 sheets of paper into the paper tray of his printer.
The paper tray is 4 cm deep.

Is the paper tray deep enough for 500 sheets of paper?
You must explain your answer.

2a
1 mark

Write 4.5 ×103 as an ordinary number.

2b
1 mark

Write 342890 in standard form.

2c
2 marks

The population of Hungary is 9.6 ×107. The population of Indonesia is 2.43×108

Calculate the difference between the population of Hungary and Indonesia. Give your answer in standard form.

3
2 marks

Write the following numbers in order of size. Start with the smallest number.

0.038 × 102

3800 × 104

380

0.38 × 101

4a
1 mark

Write down the value of 100.

4b
1 mark

Write down the value of 102.

4c
2 marks

Write these numbers in order of size.
Start with the smallest number.

2.73 × 103

27.3 × 103

273 × 102

0.00273

5a
1 mark

Write down the value of  10012.

5b
2 marks

Find the value of 12523.

6a
1 mark

Write down the value of 3612.

6b
1 mark

Write down the value of 230.

6c
2 marks

Work out the value of 2723.

7a
1 mark

The table shows some information about eight planets.

Planet

Distance from Earth (km)

Mass (kg)

Earth

0

5.97×1024

Jupiter

6.29×108

1.898×1027

Mars

7.83×107

6.42×1023

Mercury

9.17×107

3.302×1023

Neptune

4.35 × 109

1.024 × 1026

Saturn

1.28 × 109

5.68 × 1026

Uranus

2.72 × 109

8.683 × 1025

Venus

4.14 × 107

4.869 × 1024

Write down the name of the planet with the greatest mass.

7b
1 mark

Find the difference between the mass of Venus and the mass of Mercury.

7c
2 marks

Nishat says that Neptune is over a hundred times further away from Earth than Venus is.

Is Nishat right?
You must show how you get your answer.

8
2 marks

Work out (13.8 × 107) × (5.4×1012)
Give your answer as an ordinary number.

9a
1 mark

Write down the value of 100.

9b
1 mark

Write 6.7 x 10-5 as an ordinary number.

9c
2 marks

Work out the value of (3 x 107) x (9 x 106).

Give your answer in standard form.

10
2 marks

Calculate 9 ×104 × 3 × 103.
Give your answer in standard form.

11
2 marks

Work out the value of (9 ×104) × (3 ×107).
Give your answer in standard form.

12a
1 mark

Work out the value of 25-3.

12b
2 marks

Work out the value of 3503.
Give your answer in standard form.

13
1 mark

Patrick has to work out the exact value of 6414

Patrick says,

      "14 of 64 is 16 so 6414 = 16"

Explain what is wrong with what Patrick says.

14a
2 marks

The table shows information about the surface area of each of the world’s oceans.

Ocean

Surface area in square kilometres

  Pacific

1.56 × 108

  Indian

6.86 × 107

  Southern

2.03 × 107

  Arctic

1.41 × 107

  Atlantic

1.06 × 108

Work out the difference, in square kilometres, between the surface area of the Atlantic Ocean and the surface area of the Indian Ocean.
Give your answer in standard form.

.......................square kilometres

14b
1 mark

The surface area of the Pacific Ocean is k times the surface area of the Arctic Ocean.

Work out the value of k.
Give your answer correct to the nearest whole number.

k =...........................

15
3 marks

Write (84)5 as a power of 2.

16
3 marks

You are given that 177147=311

3n=177147 ×95

Find the value of n.

17a
2 marks

A company makes sweets.
The sweets are put into packets.

Here are some facts.

1.47 × 107

sweets are made every day

3.5 × 105

packets of sweets are  produced every day

Calculate the mean number of sweets in one packet.

17b
3 marks

Sweets are made on 288 days each year.

Calculate the number of sweets made each year.
Give your answer in standard form.

17c
4 marks

The company has 152 machines making the sweets. Each machine operates for 15 hours each day.

i) Calculate the number of sweets made by one machine each hour.
Give your answer as an ordinary number correct to the nearest 10.

[3]

ii) State one assumption you have made in part (c)(i).

[1]

18a
1 mark

The table shows the population, correct to two significant figures, of each of six countries in April 2016.

Country

Population (April 2016)

Hungary

9.8×106

Mexico

1.3×108

Thailand

6.8×107

Nigeria

1.9×108

Singapore

5.7×106

Egypt

9.3×107

Write 9.3×107 as an ordinary number.

18b
1 mark

Which of these countries had the least population?

18c
2 marks

The population of China was 1.382×109 in April 2016.
The population of India was 1.327×109 in April 2016.

Work out the difference between the population of China and the population of India in April 2016.
Give your answer in standard form.

1a
1 mark

Show that 23=18

1b
1 mark

55 can be written in the form 5k.

Find the value of k.

2a
2 marks

Show that 8112=19   

2b
2 marks

Show that (64125)23=1625

3a
1 mark

Write down the value of 6412.

3b
2 marks

Show that (8125)23254

4a
1 mark

Show that 8×1063 = 200

4b
2 marks

Show that 14412×6413=3

4c
2 marks

Solve     32x = 181.

5a
1 mark

Write 640 000 000 in standard form.

5b
2 marks

Work out (3 × 107) ÷ (6 × 104)
Give your answer in standard form.

6a
1 mark

Write 5 400 000 as a number in standard form.

6b
1 mark

Write  3.2 × 104 as an ordinary number.

6c
2 marks

The mass of the Sun is 2× 1030 kg.
The mass of the largest known star is  315 times the mass of the Sun.

Work out the mass of this star.
Give your answer in kg in standard form.

7a
1 mark

Write 7.97 × 106 as an ordinary number.

7b
2 marks

Work out the value of (2.52 × 105) ÷ (4 ×103)
Give your answer in standard form.

8
3 marks

      p2= xyxy

x=8.5×109y=4×108

Find the value of p.
Give your answer in standard form correct to 2 significant figures.

9a
2 marks

T = wd3

w = 5.6×105d  = 1.4×104 

Work out the value of T.
Give your answer in standard form correct to 3 significant figures.

9b
2 marks

w is increased by 10%
d is increased by 5%

Lottie says,
         "The value of T will increase because both w and d are increased."

Lottie is wrong.
Explain why.

10a
1 mark

Write 8.2 x 105 as an ordinary number.

10b
1 mark

Write 0.000 376 in standard form.

10c
2 marks

Work out the value of (2.3 x 1012) ÷ (4.6 x 103)
Give your answer in standard form.

11
2 marks

Work out the value of (3.5 x  106) ÷ (5 x 10-3).
Give your answer in standard form.

12
3 marks

Simplify  82 ×463

Give your answer in the form 2a where a is an integer.

Show each stage of your working clearly.

13
3 marks

a = 25 × 1014n where nis an integer.

Find an expression, in terms of n , for a32

Give your answer in standard form.

14
3 marks

Show that  8133 can be written as 313

15
3 marks

Find 4% of 4.5 × 10157
Give your answer in standard form