Final answer:
To convert a number to standard form, multiply the decimal number by a power of 10. In this case, 8.71 x 10^12 can be written as 8,710,000,000,000.
Step-by-step explanation:
To convert a number to standard form, we need to rewrite it as a decimal number multiplied by a power of 10. In this case, we have 8.71 multiplied by 10 raised to the power of 12. To convert it to standard form, we can write it as 8,710,000,000,000 or 8.71 x 1012.