Scientific Notation & Standard Form Converter

Different fields use variations of exponential notation. Scientific notation keeps the coefficient strictly between 1 and 10 with the exponent as any integer, e.g. 4.5 × 10^7. Engineering notation restricts the exponent to a multiple of 3 (10^3, 10^6, 10^(-9)), matching standard metric prefixes (kilo, mega, micro), so the coefficient can range up to just under 1000, e.g. 45 × 10^6. E-notation is used by computers and calculators, representing 10^b as "e" or "E" followed by the exponent, e.g. 4.5e+07. This calculator computes all three from a single input.

To convert a standard decimal to scientific notation by hand: locate the decimal point, shift it until there is only one non-zero digit to its left (that value is the coefficient a), then count the number of shifts: a leftward shift gives a positive exponent b, a rightward shift gives a negative one.

Choose Decimal or Scientific Notation input mode, enter your value (or coefficient and exponent), and the calculator returns the scientific form, engineering form, E-notation, and the raw decimal, along with a decimal-shift diagram.

The exponent is b = ⌊ log_(10)(149{,}600{,}000) ⌋ = 8.

a = \frac{149{,}600{,}000}{10^8} = 1.496

149{,}600{,}000 = 1.496 × 10^8

This matches the approximate distance from Earth to the Sun in kilometers, and the calculator's default output.

For evaluating expressions that include scientific-notation-scale numbers, use the scientific calculator. To work with the exponents themselves, see the exponent calculator.