GCSE · Standard form

Standard form in contextExam-style questions

How standard-form arithmetic solves real scale problems — distances, masses, populations — and why unit conversion has to happen before the powers of ten can do their work.

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19 questions · GCSE (Higher) level · mark scheme and worked solution on each · no sign-up to try

DifficultyAll Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

1
The distance from the Earth to the Moon is about $3.8 \times 10^5$ km. A rocket travels this distance in $4$ days. How far does it travel each day, on average? Give your answer in standard form.
Level 2 · 2 marksTry it
2
A computer does $2 \times 10^9$ calculations per second. How many does it do in $30$ seconds? Give your answer in standard form.
Level 2 · 2 marksTry it
3
A country has a population of $6.8 \times 10^7$ and an area of $2.4 \times 10^5$ km $^2$ .

Work out the population density, in people per km $^2$ . Give your answer to the nearest whole number. (2 marks)
Level 2 · 2 marksTry it
4
Light travels at $3 \times 10^8$ metres per second.

The distance from the Sun to the Earth is $1.5 \times 10^{11}$ metres.

Work out how long light takes to travel from the Sun to the Earth.

Give your answer in minutes, correct to the nearest minute. (3 marks)
Level 2 · 3 marksTry it