Scientific Notation Calculator

Scientific Notation Calculator

Convert a number into scientific notation and engineering notation.

Last updated: June 2026 | By Patchworkr Team

Notation
Scientific notation will appear here
Engineering notation will appear here

What Is Scientific Notation?

Scientific notation writes a number as a mantissa multiplied by a power of ten.

How To Convert To Scientific Notation

  1. Move the decimal so the mantissa is between 1 and 10.
  2. Count how many places the decimal moved.
  3. Write the number as mantissa x 10^exponent.

Worked Example

12345 becomes 1.2345 x 10^4 in scientific notation and 12.3450 x 10^3 in engineering notation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between scientific and engineering notation?

Engineering notation uses an exponent that is a multiple of 3.

Can the calculator convert negative numbers?

Yes. It preserves the sign while formatting the mantissa and exponent.

Does zero convert cleanly?

Zero is rejected here because scientific notation requires a nonzero value.

How many decimal places are shown?

The calculator shows four decimal places in the formatted results.

Related Tools