How scientific notation converter works
Scientific notation expresses a number as a mantissa times a power of ten, in the form a × 10^n where the mantissa a has exactly one non-zero digit before the decimal point and the exponent n is an integer. It is the standard way to write very large or very small numbers compactly in science and engineering.
To convert a decimal to scientific notation, find the exponent that puts the decimal point after the first non-zero digit and divide the number by that power of ten. For 1234 the exponent is 3 and the mantissa is 1.234, giving 1.234 × 10^3. For 0.0056 the exponent is -3 and the mantissa is 5.6, giving 5.6 × 10^-3. Zero is a special case with exponent 0.
Enter a value and pick a direction. "To" converts a decimal into scientific notation and also gives the e-notation form (like 1.234e3). "From" converts a scientific-notation string like 1.23e4 back into a plain decimal. Use it for homework, physics and chemistry calculations, and translating between calculator displays and written work.