Scientific Notation Converter
Convert between decimal and scientific notation instantly — runs entirely in your browser.
Decimal to scientific notation and back
Scientific notation expresses any number as a coefficient between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten. For example, 0.00042 becomes 4.2 × 10⁻⁴ and 6,000,000 becomes 6 × 10⁶. This tool converts in both directions: enter a plain decimal and get the scientific form, or enter e-notation such as "4.2e-4" and get the expanded decimal. The display form uses the Unicode multiplication sign and superscript digits; the e-notation form uses the standard programming convention with a lowercase "e".
Scientific notation is used in physics, chemistry, and engineering to represent very large or very small quantities without a long string of zeros. It also makes the order of magnitude immediately visible. The tool uses JavaScript's native floating-point arithmetic, so it is accurate to about 15 significant digits — sufficient for most practical uses. All computation happens locally in your browser.
FAQ
What is the difference between scientific notation and e-notation? Scientific notation uses "× 10^n" (displayed with a superscript), while e-notation is the compact programming shorthand "en". They represent the same value.
Can I enter e-notation as input? Yes. Both "4.2e-4" and "4.2E-4" are accepted, as is a plain decimal like "0.00042".
Does it handle negative numbers? Yes. For example, -0.0056 converts to -5.6 × 10⁻³.
How accurate are the results? Results are accurate to approximately 15 significant digits, which is the precision of IEEE 754 double-precision floating point. Trailing zeros in the coefficient are stripped for clarity.