When writing and working with very large or very small numbers, we use standard formA system in which numbers are written as a number greater than 1 and less than 10 multiplied by a power of 10 which may be positive or negative..
Standard form shows the size of numbers as powers of ten.
Standard from numbers are written as:
A × 10n
where: A is a number greater than 1 but less than 10 and n is the index or power.
We use standard form with:
Use
Example
Large numbers
A population of 120,000,000 microorganisms could be written as 1.2 × 108
Small numbers
A red blood cell's diameter of 7 μm or 0.000007 m could be written as 7 × 10−6 m
Calculations
When multiplying: add powers. When dividing: subtract powers.
Use
Large numbers
Example
A population of 120,000,000 microorganisms could be written as 1.2 × 108
Use
Small numbers
Example
A red blood cell's diameter of 7 μm or 0.000007 m could be written as 7 × 10−6 m
Use
Calculations
Example
When multiplying: add powers. When dividing: subtract powers.
