Scientific Notation Converter

Welcome to our scientific notation converter, where you can convert a decimal to scientific notation or vice versa. The scientific notation conversion is simple, but you're not the only one confounded by it once in a while, and that's where our converter can help!

In the following article, we aim to convey the fundamentals of this topic, including:

• What is scientific notation?
• How to convert numbers into scientific notation?
• Converting scientific notation to decimal form.

Scientific notation is a convenient way of writing large numbers or numbers with too many decimal places. In scientific notation, we express numbers in the form:

where:

• $m$ — The significand or mantissa, a real number coefficient such that $1\leq|m|<10$; and
• $n$ — An integer exponent.

For example, consider the number 0.0000272. Writing it this way makes it hard to read it correctly. Besides, using this form in calculations can be a hassle, too. Instead, expressing the number in its scientific form, 2.72 × 10^-5, makes our life easier.

To convert a decimal number into scientific notation, follow these steps:

1. Move the decimal point from its original place to after the first non-zero digit in the decimal number. This new number is the mantissa m.

2. Count the number of decimal places the point was moved. This shall be the exponent x of the number.

3. The exponent x is positive if the decimal point is moved to the left and negative if the point is moved to the right.

4. Multiply the mantissa with 10^x to get the scientific notation: m × 10^x.

Consider the number 0.00007248. Let's use the above method to convert this number into scientific notation:

1. Move the decimal point after the first non-zero digit: 7.248.
2. Count the number of decimal places we moved the point: 5.
3. Since we moved the decimal point to the right, the exponent is negative: -5.
4. Multiply 7.248 with 10^-5 to get the scientific notation of 0.00007248 as 7.248 × 10^-5.

Test your understanding of scientific notation conversion: Convert the numbers 866.452 and 0.0001054 into scientific notation. You can verify your answers with our scientific notation converter.

Now that you've learned how to convert numbers into scientific notation, let's learn how to convert a number from scientific notation to standard form with an example. Consider the number 6.045 × 10^-9:

1. Note the sign of the exponent:
   • If the exponent is positive, we move the decimal point to the right.
   • If the exponent is negative, we move the decimal point to the left.
2. Move the decimal point 9 places to the left to get: 0.000 000 006 045.

Our scientific notation converter can also calculate scientific notation to decimal conversion for you!

Using our calculator to convert to scientific notation and vice versa is simple:

• Enter any number you wish to convert into scientific or decimal form, and the calculator will give you the following results:

  1. The scientific notation of the number.

  2. The number's decimal notation.

Inputting numbers in the scientific form

You can enter a number in scientific form using the alphabet e followed by the exponent value. For example, you can input 6.023 × 10^-24 as 6.023e-24. If no exponent follows the alphabet e, the calculator will assume e as the Euler's constant!

Want to express your number in scientific e-notation? Or are you looking for engineering notation? Omni has the complete package for you to try next:

• Scientific notation calculator;
• Exponential notation calculator;
• Engineering notation calculator;
• Scientific notation equation calculator; and
• Standard notation calculator.