How to Write 6,000 in Standard Form

Standard form is a way of writing very large or very small numbers using powers of 10.

Step 1: Make the first number between 1 and 10

In standard form, the first number must be:

greater than or equal to 1, but less than 10

Start with 6,000.

Divide by 10 until the number is between 1 and 10.

6,000 ÷ 10 = 600

600 is still greater than 10, so divide by 10 again.

600 ÷ 10 = 60

60 is still greater than 10, so divide by 10 again.

60 ÷ 10 = 6

Now stop.

6 is between 1 and 10.

Step 2: Count how many times you divided by 10

We divided by 10 three times.

This gives us the power:

10³

Step 3: Write the number in standard form

Put the two parts together:

6 × 10³

So:

6,000 = 6 × 10³

Common mistake

A number can have the same value as 6,000 without actually being written in standard form.

For example:

60 × 10² = 6,000

but this is not standard form because the first number is 60.

The first number must always be:

at least 1 but less than 10.

So the correct standard form is:

6 × 10³

Quick Check

You can check your answer by working backwards.

10³ = 1000

So:

6 × 1000 = 6000

Therefore:

6000 = 6 × 10³

Further practice

Write each number in standard form:

1. 4,000
2. 25,000
3. 730,000

Answers