GCSE Maths Standard Form, Indices and Surds: lesson and practice questions

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

• Use index notation and the laws of indices to multiply, divide and raise powers to powers, with numbers and with letters
• Work with zero and negative indices
• Calculate with roots and (Higher) with fractional indices
• Write very large and very small numbers in standard form and change them back
• Compare, order and calculate with numbers in standard form, with and without a calculator
• Give exact answers in terms of π
• (Higher) Simplify, add, multiply and expand with surds, and rationalise denominators

You should already know

• Multiplying and dividing whole numbers and decimals (Chapter 1)
• Square numbers, cube numbers and roots (Chapter 2)
• Fractions and reciprocals (Chapter 3)
• Rounding to significant figures (Chapter 4)
• Using letters in algebra

Where this leads

• Expanding brackets and factorising (Chapter 7)
• Area and circumference of circles (Chapter 18)
• Pythagoras and exact trigonometry (Chapter 20)
• Growth and decay (Chapters 5 and 25)