Scientific Notation Converter

Scientific notation expresses numbers as a coefficient between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of 10. For example, 5,300,000 becomes 5.3 x 10^6. It makes very large or very small numbers easier to read and work with.

E notation is a computer-friendly way to write scientific notation. Instead of 5.3 x 10^6, you write 5.3E6 or 5.3e6. Most programming languages and calculators use E notation because superscripts are not available in plain text.

Engineering notation is similar to scientific notation but restricts the exponent to multiples of 3 (like 10^3, 10^6, 10^9). This aligns with SI prefixes like kilo, mega, and giga. For example, 53,000 becomes 53 x 10^3 in engineering notation instead of 5.3 x 10^4.

Move the decimal point right until you have a number between 1 and 10, counting the moves. For 0.00042, move the decimal 4 places right to get 4.2, giving you 4.2 x 10^-4. The negative exponent indicates the original number was less than 1.