Scientific Notation Calculator
Type an ordinary number such as 0.00056, or one already in a form such as 1.2 x 10^5 or 3.4e-7. You get standard form, engineering notation, E notation and the plain number.
Standard form (scientific notation) writes a number as a × 10^n, where a is at least 1 and less than 10.
Worked examples
A small number
0.00056
5.6 × 10^-4
The decimal point moves four places to the right.
A large number
45,000,000
4.5 × 10^7
Engineering notation is 45 × 10^6.
About Scientific Notation Calculator
Scientific notation, known as standard form in UK schools, writes a number as a value between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten. The distance to the sun is about 1.5 × 10^11 metres and a hydrogen atom is about 1.2 × 10^-10 metres wide. Writing numbers this way keeps very large and very small values short, makes them easy to compare and shows how precise they are.
Type an ordinary number such as 0.00056, a calculator style number such as 4.5e7, or a number already in standard form such as 1.2 x 10^5. You get the standard form, the engineering notation, which keeps the power of ten to a multiple of three to match the metric prefixes, the E notation that calculators and spreadsheets display, and the plain number. The conversion works on the digits directly, so nothing is lost to rounding, and the page counts the significant figures for you.
How to use Scientific Notation Calculator
- Type or paste the number into the box, in any of the accepted forms.
- Read the scientific notation shown in large type.
- Check the engineering and E notation, and the plain number, in the table.
- Use the note under the table to see how many places the decimal point moves.
Common uses
- Writing very large or small answers in standard form for exams
- Converting spreadsheet E notation into readable numbers
- Matching a value to a metric prefix with engineering notation
- Counting significant figures in a measurement
Frequently asked questions
What is standard form?
It is the UK name for scientific notation: a number from 1 up to (but not including) 10, multiplied by a power of ten. For example, 45,000 is 4.5 × 10^4.
How do I write a small number in standard form?
Move the decimal point right until the number is between 1 and 10 and use a negative power for the number of places moved. So 0.00056 is 5.6 × 10^-4.
What is engineering notation?
It is like scientific notation, but the power of ten is always a multiple of three, such as 12.5 × 10^3. That matches prefixes like kilo, mega and milli, so it is useful for electronics and measuring.
What does 1.2e5 mean?
It is E notation, as shown by calculators and spreadsheets. The e stands for ten to the power of, so 1.2e5 is 1.2 × 10^5, which is 120,000.
How many significant figures are shown?
The page keeps all the significant digits you typed. The count is shown in the table, and zeros that only mark the size of a whole number are not counted.