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Standard Format - ehh?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:01 pm
by fairyelephant
DD year 8 got her knickers in a right twist over maths h/w tonight - something called standard format which seems to be a decimal multiplied by another number to a negative power (can't even find the words to express it!) but it's a way of expressing a number and calculators can do it. Gosh it took me a while to understand it enough to be able to help and by then she was almost hysterical. I don't recall ever having learnt anything like that myself way back when.... Is this par for the course? Is maths from now on going to be so different from what I learnt in the mid eighties that it will be baffling to me? Help!
Meanwhile DS year 7 was crying upstairs because he couldn't access his online school learning platform and two of his home works were finish off what we started in class type things. Needless to say dinner was late. Gosh I need a g and t....
Re: Standard Format - ehh?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:25 pm
by yoyo123
Sorry, no G&T, but May I recommend the Usborne Illustrated Maths Dictionary, combined with the wonders of Google - has got us through many a meltdown.
Re: Standard Format - ehh?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:32 pm
by Guest55
I think it is standard form which is a way of writing large and small numbers.
178 000 000 = 1.78 x 10^8
Sometimes called scientific notation - calculators use it but denote by E instead of the 10 sometimes.
Re: Standard Format - ehh?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:56 pm
by fairyelephant
Thanks yoyo, I will rush off to look at that book tomorrow! Thanks Guest55 that's it - what a palaver.
Re: Standard Format - ehh?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:14 pm
by Guest55
Actually it's a useful notation for very large and very small numbers.
You don't need a maths dictionary as there's plenty online and if you post here you'll get an answer!
Re: Standard Format - ehh?
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:21 am
by mystery
Yes, good luck with it. I would think you would have done it at school but have forgotten it as you have had no need for it since, perhaps.
Year 8 is maybe a little early for it - when does it crop up these days g55?
It was easier for parents when I was at school as there would have been a textbook to look at. If they don't have a textbook, don't they have an explanation they have written in their exercise books which can be referred to during homework if they have forgotten the classwork or missed the point?
We get the same frustrations from time to time as there can be very unclear homework assignments and the kids do care about doing exactly what was wanted.
Good luck!