Effortlessly convert numbers to and from scientific notation and perform
arithmetic with ease. Our tool is designed for students, scientists, and engineers to handle very large
or very small numbers without error. Get results in both standard form and decimal notation instantly.
Explore more tools on free calculators on
CalculatorBolt.
Standard Form Converter
Accepts decimal (500) or E-notation (5e2).
Scientific Notation
0 × 10⁰
Decimal Form
0
Input Summary
No history yet.
How It Works
Scientific notation expresses numbers as a product of a coefficient (between 1 and 10) and a power of
10. Our calculator parses your input, performs the selected operation, and then formats the result.
It can also convert any number into this standardized form for easier readability and comparison.
Inputs Explained
Convert Number: Enter any number in either standard decimal form (e.g.,
5000000) or scientific notation (e.g., 5e6).
Perform Arithmetic: Enter two numbers and select an operation to calculate the
result. The calculator handles the conversion and arithmetic internally.
Example
To convert 0.000123, the calculator formats it to 1.23 × 10⁻⁴. To multiply
(3 × 10⁸) by (2 × 10⁻²), the calculator determines the result is 6 × 10⁶
(or 6,000,000 in decimal form).
Tips & Notes
Use the "Significant Figures" option in advanced settings to round your result to the desired
precision, which is common in scientific reporting.
Computer floating-point arithmetic can have tiny precision errors with very complex numbers.
E-notation (1.23e5) is a common way to write scientific notation in programming and
calculators.
FAQs
Scientific notation is a way of writing very large or very small
numbers. A number is written in scientific notation when a number between 1 and 10 is
multiplied by a power of 10. For example, 650,000,000 can be written in scientific
notation as 6.5 × 10^8.
To add or subtract numbers in scientific notation, their
exponents must be the same. If they are not, you must rewrite one of the numbers so that
the exponents match, then add or subtract the coefficients and keep the common exponent.
Significant figures are the digits in a number that carry
meaningful information about its precision. They are important in science and
engineering to ensure that calculations do not imply more precision than the original
measurements allow.
Scientific notation typically uses a multiplication symbol and a
superscript exponent (e.g., 1.23 × 10^5). E-notation replaces the "× 10^" with the
letter "E" or "e" (e.g., 1.23E5), which is commonly used in calculators and programming
languages.
It simplifies arithmetic operations with very large or small
numbers and makes it easier to compare magnitudes and determine the number of
significant figures.
Disclaimer
Important: This calculator performs standard arithmetic using JavaScript's built-in
Number type, which has inherent precision limitations. For critical scientific research or
applications requiring high-precision arithmetic, please use specialized software and be aware of
potential rounding errors.