Edexcel International GCSE Maths Standard Form Past Paper Questions and Solutions (4MA1 Higher)

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Edexcel International GCSE Maths A (4MA1) · Higher · Numbers and the Number System

Standard Form: Edexcel 4MA1 Past Paper Questions and Worked Solutions

This page collects every standard form question from the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A (4MA1) Higher tier Paper 1H and Paper 1HR, January 2020 to June 2025: 13 questions worth 41 marks. Questions run from easier to harder. Try each one first, then click “Show solution” for a step-by-step method with the reason for every step. All answers are checked against the official Pearson mark schemes.

14 marksHigherJune 2020 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q5

(a) Write 5.7 × 10−3 as an ordinary number. (1)

(b) Write 800 000 in standard form. (1)

(c) Work out 3 × 105 − 2.7 × 104⁄6 × 10−2 (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. Move the decimal point 3 places to the left.

Answer: 0.0057

Part (b)

  1. 800 000 = 8 × 100 000

Answer: 8 × 105

Part (c)

  1. Top: 3 × 105 − 2.7 × 104 = 300 000 − 27 000 = 273 000
  2. Divide by 6 × 10−2 = 0.06: 273 000 ÷ 0.06 = 4 550 000

Answer: 4.55 × 106

23 marksHigherJanuary 2020 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q6

(a) Write 7.8 × 10−4 as an ordinary number. (1)

(b) Work out 5.6 × 104 + 7 × 103⁄2.8 × 10−3. Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. Move the decimal point 4 places to the left.

Answer: 0.00078

Part (b)

  1. Top: 56 000 + 7000 = 63 000
  2. 63 000 ÷ 0.0028 = 22 500 000

Answer: 2.25 × 107

32 marksHigherJanuary 2021 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q6

(a) Write 2 840 000 000 in standard form. (1)

(b) Write 2.5 × 10−4 as an ordinary number. (1)

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Part (a)

  1. 2.84 has to be multiplied by 10 nine times to get 2 840 000 000.

Answer: 2.84 × 109

Part (b)

  1. Move the decimal point 4 places to the left.

Answer: 0.00025

45 marksHigherJanuary 2023 · Paper 1HR (4MA1/1HR) · Q7

(a) Write 9.32 × 10−5 as an ordinary number. (1)

(b) Work out 3 × 105 − 6 × 104. Give your answer in standard form. (2)

(c) Work out (3 × 1055) × (6 × 1065). Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. Move the decimal point 5 places to the left.

Answer: 0.0000932

Part (b)

  1. 300 000 − 60 000 = 240 000

Answer: 2.4 × 105

Part (c)

  1. 3 × 6 = 18 and 1055 + 65 = 10120
  2. 18 × 10120 = 1.8 × 101 × 10120

Answer: 1.8 × 10121

54 marksHigherJune 2021 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q8

The table shows the populations of five countries.

CountryPopulation
China1.4 × 109
Germany8.2 × 107
Sweden9.9 × 106
Fiji9.1 × 105
Malta4.3 × 105

(a) Work out the difference between the population of China and the population of Germany. Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Given that population of Fiji = 1⁄k × population of Sweden

(b) work out the value of k. Give your answer correct to the nearest whole number. (2)

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Part (a)

  1. Write both with the same power of 10: 8.2 × 107 = 0.082 × 109
  2. 1.4 × 109 − 0.082 × 109 = 1.318 × 109

Answer: 1.318 × 109

Part (b)

  1. Rearrange: k = population of Sweden⁄population of Fiji = 9.9 × 106⁄9.1 × 105
  2. = 9 900 000⁄910 000 = 10.879…

Answer: k = 11

62 marksHigherJanuary 2022 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q8

a = 4.2 × 10−24 and b = 3 × 10145. Work out the value of a × b. Give your answer in standard form.

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  1. Multiply the numbers and add the powers: 4.2 × 3 = 12.6 and 10−24 + 145 = 10121
  2. 12.6 × 10121 is not in standard form: 12.6 = 1.26 × 101

Answer: 1.26 × 10122

74 marksHigherJanuary 2022 · Paper 1HR (4MA1/1HR) · Q8

(a) Write 5 × 104 as an ordinary number. (1)

(b) Write 0.000 06 in standard form. (1)

(c) Work out (4 × 10512) ÷ (1.6 × 10700). Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. 104 = 10 000, so 5 × 104 = 5 × 10 000

Answer: 50 000

Part (b)

  1. Move the decimal point 5 places to get 6.

Answer: 6 × 10−5

Part (c)

  1. Divide the numbers: 4 ÷ 1.6 = 2.5. Subtract the powers: 512 − 700 = −188

Answer: 2.5 × 10−188

82 marksHigherJune 2022 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q8

(a) Write 0.000 089 in standard form. (1)

(b) Write 8.34 × 104 as an ordinary number. (1)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. Move the decimal point until the number is between 1 and 10: 8.9. That took 5 moves to the right, so the power is −5.

Answer: 8.9 × 10−5

Part (b)

  1. Multiply by 10 000: move the decimal point 4 places to the right.

Answer: 83 400

93 marksHigherJune 2023 · Paper 1HR (4MA1/1HR) · Q8

(a) Write 5.6 × 10−3 as an ordinary number. (1)

(b) Work out 6 × 103⁄2.1 × 10−4 + 9 × 10−5. Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. × 10−3 means move the digits 3 places to the right of the decimal point (make the number smaller).

Answer: 0.0056

Part (b)

  1. Work out the denominator first: 2.1 × 10−4 = 0.00021 and 9 × 10−5 = 0.00009, so the sum is 0.0003 = 3 × 10−4
  2. 6 × 103⁄3 × 10−4 = 2 × 103 − (−4) = 2 × 107

Answer: 2 × 107

104 marksHigherJune 2025 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q8

(a) Write 520 million in standard form. (1)

(b) Write 8.79 × 10−5 as an ordinary number. (1)

(c) Work out (5 × 1042) × (7 × 10−180). Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. 520 million = 520 000 000. Move the decimal point so the number is between 1 and 10: 5.2, which needed 8 moves.

Answer: 5.2 × 108

Part (b)

  1. A negative power of 10 makes the number smaller: move the decimal point 5 places to the left.

Answer: 0.0000879

Part (c)

  1. Multiply the numbers and add the powers: 5 × 7 = 35 and 1042 + (−180) = 10−138
  2. 35 × 10−138 is not in standard form because 35 is bigger than 10. 35 = 3.5 × 101
  3. 3.5 × 101 × 10−138 = 3.5 × 10−137

Answer: 3.5 × 10−137

113 marksHigherJanuary 2023 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q9

(a) Write 6.25 × 10−4 as an ordinary number. (1)

(b) Work out (2.4 × 1012) ÷ (9.6 × 104). Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. 10−4 means move the decimal point 4 places to the left: 6.25 → 0.000625

Answer: 0.000625

Part (b)

  1. 2.4 ÷ 9.6 = 0.25 and 1012 − 4 = 108
  2. 0.25 × 108 = 2.5 × 10−1 × 108

Answer: 2.5 × 107

123 marksHigherJune 2024 · Paper 1H (4MA1/1H) · Q9

The table gives the amount of rice produced by each of two countries in 2020.

CountryAmount of rice (tonnes)
Indonesia3.5 × 107
Argentina8.2 × 105

(a) Write 3.5 × 107 as an ordinary number. (1)

In 2020, Japan produced 6 780 000 more tonnes of rice than Argentina.

(b) Work out the amount of rice Japan produced in 2020. Give your answer in standard form. (2)

Show solution

Part (a)

  1. × 107 means move the digits 7 places to the left (make the number 10 000 000 times bigger).

Answer: 35 000 000

Part (b)

  1. Write Argentina’s amount as an ordinary number: 8.2 × 105 = 820 000
  2. Japan = 820 000 + 6 780 000 = 7 600 000
  3. In standard form the first number must be between 1 and 10: 7 600 000 = 7.6 × 1 000 000

Answer: 7.6 × 106 tonnes

132 marksHigherJune 2025 · Paper 1HR (4MA1/1HR) · Q14

Work out 6.7 × 10135 + 3 × 10134. Give your answer in standard form.

Show solution
  1. To add numbers in standard form, write them with the same power of 10: 3 × 10134 = 0.3 × 10135
  2. 6.7 × 10135 + 0.3 × 10135 = 7.0 × 10135

Answer: 7 × 10135

More Numbers and the Number System questions

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