GlossariesGCSE GlossariesGCSE Maths GlossaryStandard Form

Standard Form - GCSE Maths Definition

Reviewed by: Dan Finlay

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What is standard form?

In GCSE maths, a number can be written in standard form by writing it in the form a cross times 10 to the power of k, where 1 less or equal than a less than 10 and k is an integer.

The value of a can be found by identifying the first non-zero digit in the original number and putting a decimal point after it.

The value of k can be found by counting the number of times that you need to multiply (or divide) the value a by 10 in order to get the original number. If the value of a is the original number, then you do not need to multiply or divide it by 10 so k will be zero. If the original number is greater than or equal to 10, then you need to multiply a by a power of 10 so k will be positive. If the original number is less than 1, then you need to divide a by a power of 10 so k will be negative.

Here are some examples:

Ordinary form

Standard form

12000

1.2 cross times 10 to the power of 4

0.00561

5.61 cross times 10 to the power of negative 3 end exponent

10

1 cross times 10 to the power of 1

5.7

5.7 cross times 10 to the power of 0

Standard form is also known as scientific notation. Standard form is useful when writing really big numbers or numbers that are very close to zero. It is also very useful when comparing the size of two numbers.

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Dan Finlay

Reviewer: Dan Finlay

Expertise: Maths Subject Lead

Dan graduated from the University of Oxford with a First class degree in mathematics. As well as teaching maths for over 8 years, Dan has marked a range of exams for Edexcel, tutored students and taught A Level Accounting. Dan has a keen interest in statistics and probability and their real-life applications.

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