Or paste E-notation directly into the coefficient field (e.g. 3.5e6)
What Is Scientific Notation?
Scientific notation expresses any number as a product of a coefficient (between 1 and 10) and a power of ten: a × 10ⁿ where 1 ≤ |a| < 10. It's the standard way to write very large or very small numbers without a string of zeros that are hard to read and easy to miscount.
Examples: the mass of the Earth is 5.972 × 10²⁴ kg; the diameter of a hydrogen atom is 1.06 × 10⁻¹⁰ m.
How to Convert: Step by Step
Standard → Scientific:
- Move the decimal point until only one non-zero digit is to its left. Count the moves.
- That count becomes your exponent. Moving left = positive exponent; moving right = negative.
- Write the result as
a × 10ⁿ.
Scientific → Standard:
- If the exponent is positive, move the decimal right that many places (add trailing zeros if needed).
- If the exponent is negative, move the decimal left (add leading zeros if needed).
Conversion Examples
| Standard Form | Scientific Notation | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| 93,000,000 | 9.3 × 10⁷ | Decimal moved left 7 places |
| 0.000056 | 5.6 × 10⁻⁵ | Decimal moved right 5 places |
| 1,234.5 | 1.2345 × 10³ | Decimal moved left 3 places |
| 0.00000000917 | 9.17 × 10⁻⁹ | Decimal moved right 9 places |
| 602,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 | 6.022 × 10²³ | Avogadro's number |
| 0.000000000000000000000000001672 | 1.672 × 10⁻²⁷ | Mass of a proton (kg) |
E-Notation (Computer Scientific Notation)
Calculators and programming languages typically write scientific notation as E-notation: 3.5e6 means 3.5 × 10⁶, and 1.2e-4 means 1.2 × 10⁻⁴. Our converter accepts both formats as input.
Multiplying & Dividing in Scientific Notation
Multiply: Multiply the coefficients and add the exponents.
(2.0 × 10³) × (3.0 × 10⁴) = 6.0 × 10⁷
Divide: Divide the coefficients and subtract the exponents.
(6.0 × 10⁸) ÷ (2.0 × 10³) = 3.0 × 10⁵
Add/Subtract: First make the exponents equal, then operate on the coefficients.
(3.0 × 10⁴) + (2.0 × 10³) = (3.0 × 10⁴) + (0.2 × 10⁴) = 3.2 × 10⁴