Convert numbers to and from scientific notation — and multiply or divide values in scientific notation with full step-by-step working.
Enter your figures and click Calculate to see your results.
Choose the mode, enter the required values and click Calculate — results appear in scientific notation, standard form and E notation.
Press the Calculate button. All results appear instantly — no page reload, no waiting.
Results appear in the panel on the right with all key values clearly labelled. Use Copy to grab the result or Download to save a text file.
Scientific notation writes numbers as a × 10^b where 1 ≤ |a| < 10 and b is an integer. Examples: 0.000045 = 4.5 × 10⁻⁵, 6,700,000 = 6.7 × 10⁶. It makes very large and very small numbers manageable and is the standard format in physics, chemistry, astronomy and engineering.
Move the decimal point until exactly one non-zero digit is to its left. Count the moves: moves right = negative exponent, moves left = positive exponent. For 0.0034: move 3 places right → 3.4 × 10⁻³. For 45,000: move 4 places left → 4.5 × 10⁴.
Multiply the coefficients and add the exponents: (3 × 10⁴) × (2 × 10³) = 6 × 10⁷. If the result coefficient is not between 1 and 10, normalise: (5 × 10⁴) × (4 × 10³) = 20 × 10⁷ = 2 × 10⁸. Always check that the coefficient is in the range [1, 10).
E notation uses E instead of × 10^: 3.7 × 10⁵ = 3.7E5, and 4.5 × 10⁻³ = 4.5E-3. It is used in calculators, spreadsheets and programming languages (Python, JavaScript, C, Java). It is identical to scientific notation — just a text-friendly format for digital output.
Engineering notation restricts the exponent to multiples of 3, matching SI prefixes: kilo (10³), mega (10⁶), giga (10⁹), milli (10⁻³), micro (10⁻⁶), nano (10⁻⁹). So 45,000 = 45 × 10³ (not 4.5 × 10⁴). This makes unit conversions immediate: 4.5 × 10⁶ Ω = 4.5 MΩ directly.
