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1 Number and calculation
1.2 Standard form
In this section you will … Key words
• learn to write large and small numbers in standard form. scientific notation
standard form
Look at these numbers
4.67 ×10 = 46.7
Tip
E
4.67 ×10 2 = 467
4.67 ×103 = 4670 4.67 × 102 is the
4.67 ×106 = 4 670 000 same as
4.67 × 100 or
You can use powers of 10 in this way to write large numbers. For 4.67 × 10 × 10
4.67 ×10 −1 = 0.467
4.67 ×10 −2 = 0.0467
−3
4.67 ×10 = 0.004 67
PL
example, the average distance to the Sun is 149 600 000 km. You can
write this as 1.496 × 108 km. This is called standard form. You write a
number in standard form as a × 10n where 1 ⩽ a < 10 and n is an integer.
You can write small numbers in a similar way, using negative integer
powers of 10. For example:
Tip
Think of 4.67 × 10−1
as 4.67 ÷ 10
M
4.67 ×10 −7 = 0.000 004 67
Small numbers occur often in science. For example, the time for light to
Tip
travel 5 metres is 0.000 000 017 seconds. In standard form, you can write
this as 1.7 ×10 −8 seconds. Standard form is
also sometimes
SA
Worked example 1.2 called scientific
notation.
Write these numbers in standard form.
a 256 million b 25.6 billion c 0.000 025 6
Answer
Tip
a 1 million = 1 000 000 or 10 6
Notice that in
So 256 million = 256 000 000 = 2.56 × 108 every case the
b 1 billion = 1 000 000 000 or 109 decimal point
So 25.6 billion = 25 600 000 000 = 2.56 × 1010 is placed after
the 2, the first
c 0.000 025 6 = 2.56 × 10−5 non-zero digit.
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Original material © Cambridge University Press 2021. This material is not final and is subject to further changes prior to publication.
ISBN_9781108783774.