Scientific Notation Converter
Convert numbers to scientific notation and back — with E-notation, engineering notation, and the conversion steps shown so you can follow along for homework.
What are you entering?
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is scientific notation?
- Scientific notation writes a number as a × 10^b, where the coefficient a is at least 1 and less than 10 and the exponent b is an integer. 320,000 becomes 3.2 × 10^5, and 0.00047 becomes 4.7 × 10^-4. It keeps very large and very small numbers readable.
- What is E-notation?
- E-notation is the calculator and programming form of scientific notation: the "× 10^" part is replaced by the letter E (or e), so 3.2 × 10^5 is written 3.2e5 and 4.7 × 10^-4 is written 4.7e-4.
- What is engineering notation and how is it different?
- Engineering notation is scientific notation restricted to exponents that are multiples of 3 (…, -6, -3, 0, 3, 6, …), so the coefficient runs from 1 up to 1000. This matches SI prefixes: 320 × 10^3 reads directly as 320 kilo-units, which is why engineers prefer it.
- How do I convert a decimal to scientific notation by hand?
- Move the decimal point until exactly one nonzero digit is left of it, counting the places moved. Moving left gives a positive exponent, moving right a negative one. For 5,600: move 3 places left, so 5.6 × 10^3. For 0.0042: move 3 places right, so 4.2 × 10^-3.
- What does the significant figures setting do?
- It controls how many digits of the coefficient are kept, rounding the last one. With 3 significant figures, 123,456 becomes 1.23 × 10^5. Choose the number of significant figures your measurement or assignment requires.