Scientific Notation Calculator
Enter a number to convert it into scientific notation, or supply a mantissa and exponent to expand it back to standard form. You get the coefficient, the power of ten, and both written formats.
How to convert scientific notation
- Enter a value to convert it into scientific notation.
- Or enter a mantissa and an exponent to expand to standard form.
- Read the mantissa, exponent, and the x 10^n and E notation forms.
Examples
Small number to scientific notation
0.00045
4.5 x 10^-4
Mantissa and exponent to standard form
mantissa 6.022, exponent 23
602200000000000000000000
Frequently asked questions
What is scientific notation?
Scientific notation writes a number as a mantissa between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten, such as 4.5 x 10^-4. It keeps very large and very small numbers compact and readable.
What is E notation?
E notation is the plain-text form of scientific notation used by calculators and computers, where 4.5 x 10^-4 is written 4.5e-4. The letter e means times ten to the power of.
How is a number normalized?
The calculator scales the value so the mantissa lands in the range 1 to just under 10 and records how many places the decimal point moved as the exponent.
How are negative numbers and zero handled?
Negatives keep their sign on the mantissa, for example -4.5 x 10^-4. Zero is a special case with a mantissa of 0 and an exponent of 0.
Can I convert back to a normal number?
Yes. Enter a mantissa and an exponent and the calculator multiplies the mantissa by ten raised to the exponent to give the standard form.
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