Scientific Notation Converter
Type a number like 123456 or 4.5e-7 and see it in scientific, engineering and standard form.
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The formula
N = m x 10^n, where 1 <= |m| < 10 and n is a whole number.
What scientific notation is
It is a tidy way to write very large or very small numbers. Instead of 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 you write 6.02 x 10^23. Instead of 0.00000045 you write 4.5 x 10^-7.
There are two parts: a number between 1 and 10 (the mantissa) and a power of ten. The power tells you how many places the decimal point moved, positive for large numbers and negative for small ones.
Converting by hand
Move the decimal point until there is one non-zero digit in front of it, and count the moves. 123,456 becomes 1.23456 after moving five places left, so it is 1.23456 x 10^5.
E-notation and engineering notation
Calculators and spreadsheets write 4.5 x 10^-7 as 4.5e-7. Engineering notation is similar but always uses a power of ten that is a multiple of three (kilo, mega, milli, micro), so 12,300 is written 12.3 x 10^3.
Examples to check
Type these into the calculator above to see how it behaves. Every result below was produced by the same calculator code that runs on this page.
| What you enter | What you get |
|---|---|
| Number (decimal or e-notation): 123456 | Scientific notation: 1.23456 x 10^5 |
| Number (decimal or e-notation): 0.00045 | Scientific notation: 4.5 x 10^-4 |
| Number (decimal or e-notation): 6.02e23 | Scientific notation: 6.02 x 10^23 |
| Number (decimal or e-notation): 98000000 | Scientific notation: 9.8 x 10^7 |
Scientific Notation Converter: frequently asked questions
Can I type a number in e-notation?
Yes, for example 6.02e23 or 1.6e-19.
Why must the mantissa be less than 10?
It keeps each number to a single standard form, which makes numbers easy to compare at a glance. Only the exponent needs checking.
How accurate is this calculator?
It uses standard double-precision arithmetic, accurate to about 15 significant digits. Results are rounded only for display.
Is what I enter in this calculator saved or sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs in your browser, so what you enter is not sent to our servers. We only count, anonymously, whether a tool ran successfully.
Is this calculator free to use?
Yes. It is free, needs no sign-up and has no usage limit.
Last reviewed: October 3, 2026