Scientific Notation Calculator

Scientific notation is a way of writing very large or very small numbers concisely. A number is expressed as a coefficient between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of 10. For example, 6,500,000 becomes 6.5 × 10⁶ and 0.00032 becomes 3.2 × 10⁻⁴.

Move the decimal point until you have a number between 1 and 10. Count how many places you moved: right movement = negative exponent, left movement = positive exponent. Example: 0.00045 → move decimal 4 places right → 4.5 × 10⁻⁴.

Engineering notation is similar to scientific notation but uses exponents in multiples of 3 (... -6, -3, 0, 3, 6, 9 ...). This aligns with metric prefixes (kilo = 10³, mega = 10⁶, milli = 10⁻³, micro = 10⁻⁶) making it practical for engineering.

Multiply the coefficients and add the exponents. (a × 10ᵐ) × (b × 10ⁿ) = (a × b) × 10⁽ᵐ⁺ⁿ⁾. Then adjust if needed so coefficient is between 1 and 10. Example: (2 × 10³) × (3 × 10⁴) = 6 × 10⁷.

First convert both numbers to the same power of 10. Then add or subtract the coefficients. Keep the same exponent. Finally, adjust to proper scientific notation if needed. Example: 5×10³ + 3×10² = 5×10³ + 0.3×10³ = 5.3×10³.