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Scientific Notation Converter

Convert between standard decimal numbers, scientific notation, and engineering notation. Enter a number in any format and get all representations with step-by-step explanation.

Number
Accepts: decimal numbers, scientific notation (6.022e23), or a × 10^n format

How It Works

Scientific notation expresses numbers as a product of a coefficient and a power of 10: 

a × 10n

where a (the coefficient) satisfies 1 ≤ |a| < 10, and n (the exponent) is an integer. This makes it easy to write very large or very small numbers concisely.

For example, the speed of light is 299,792,458 m/s, which in scientific notation is 2.99792458 × 108.

Conversion Steps

  1. Move the decimal point until there is exactly one nonzero digit to its left
  2. Count the number of places the decimal point moved — this becomes the exponent n
  3. If the decimal moved left, n is positive; if right, n is negative
  4. Write the result as a × 10n

Engineering Notation

A variant where the exponent is always a multiple of 3, aligning with SI prefixes like kilo (103), mega (106), milli (10−3), and micro (10−6).

Notation Formats

a × 10n   (Scientific: 1 ≤ |a| < 10)
a × 103k   (Engineering: 1 ≤ |a| < 1000, k is integer)
aE+n   (E-notation: compact form used in programming)

Common Examples

Value Scientific Engineering Description
299,792,4582.99792458 × 108299.792458 × 106Speed of light (m/s)
602,200,000,000,000,000,000,0006.022 × 1023602.2 × 1021Avogadro's number
0.000000000161.6 × 10−10160 × 10−12Electron charge (C)
0.0011 × 10−31 × 10−3One thousandth
1,000,0001 × 1061 × 106One million

SI Prefix Reference

Prefix Symbol Power Value
teraT10121,000,000,000,000
gigaG1091,000,000,000
megaM1061,000,000
kilok1031,000
millim10−30.001
microμ10−60.000001
nanon10−90.000000001
picop10−120.000000000001

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