Scientific Notation Calculator

Enter a number in ordinary form or E notation (like 6.02e23 or 1.6e-19) to see it written every standard way.

Convert a number

E notation such as 3e8 is accepted.

Scientific notation2.99792458 × 10⁸
E notation
2.99792458e8
Engineering notation
299.792458 × 10⁶
Standard form
299,792,458

Working

  1. Move the decimal point so one non-zero digit is left of it: 2.99792458
  2. The point moved 8 places left, so the exponent is positive: 8

How scientific notation works

x = m × 10ⁿ, where 1 ≤ |m| < 10 and n is a whole number

Move the decimal point until exactly one non-zero digit is to its left. The number of places moved is the exponent: positive if you moved left (large numbers), negative if you moved right (small numbers).

Worked examples

299,792,458 (speed of light in m/s)

  1. Move the point 8 places left: 2.99792458
  2. Moved left → positive exponent

2.99792458 × 10⁸

0.00042

  1. Move the point 4 places right: 4.2
  2. Moved right → negative exponent

4.2 × 10⁻⁴

Engineering notation

Engineering notation restricts the exponent to multiples of 3 so it lines up with metric prefixes: 0.00042 = 420 × 10⁻⁶, which reads naturally as 420 micro-units. See the metric prefixes table.

E notation

Calculators and spreadsheets write × 10ⁿ as “e” or “E”: 6.022e23 means 6.022 × 10²³. You can type numbers this way into any CalcoraBase calculator.