How to convert to scientific notation
- Type a number in Number. Ordinary numbers like 6020000, E notation like 6.02e23 and forms like 6.02 x 10^23 all work.
- To round, enter how many Significant figures you want. Leave it empty to keep every digit you typed.
- Read the number in scientific notation, then in E notation, engineering notation and written out in full, with its order of magnitude.
One number, every notation
For 0.000045 the converter shows:
| Notation | Result |
|---|---|
| Scientific notation | 4.5 × 10⁻⁵ |
| E notation | 4.5e-5 |
| Engineering notation | 45 × 10⁻⁶ |
| Written out in full | 0.000045 |
| Order of magnitude | −5 |
Very large and very small numbers can’t sensibly be written out. When the power of ten is 21 or more, or −21 or less, the Written out in full row just says the number is too long to write out, and the other notations still work. 6.02e23, for example, is 602 × 10²¹ in engineering notation.
Rounding to significant figures
Significant figures are the digits that carry meaning. Leading zeros don’t count, so 0.000045 has 2. Zeros between other digits do count, and so do trailing zeros after a decimal point, which is why 2.50 has 3 significant figures.
Set a number in the significant figures box and every result is rounded to that many. The scientific and engineering results keep trailing zeros to show the precision. 6020000 at 2 significant figures becomes 6.0 × 10⁶, and the speed of light, 299792458 m/s, at 3 significant figures becomes 3.00 × 10⁸. Writing 3.00 rather than 3 tells the reader the value is known to three figures.
Leave the box empty to keep exactly the digits you typed. Trailing zeros in a whole number like 6020000 are ambiguous on their own, so scientific notation is the clearest way to show how many of them are meant.