Standard Form: GCSE Maths Definition

What is standard form?

In GCSE maths, a number can be written in standard form by writing it in the form , where and is an integer.

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

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

Here are some examples:

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.

Standard form revision resources to ace your exams

Learn more about standard form with our revision notes. To test your knowledge, try our standard form exam questions.

For quick-fire GCSE maths revision use our collection of interactive flashcards for GCSE maths. We also have past papers for your exam practice.

Explore our GCSE maths revision resources