What does the 'e' mean in scientific notation like 5.879e+12?

TaurusSteve · Mar 5, 2020

5.879e+12. So that is what comes up if you convert one light year to miles. My question is, what does the 'e' mean? I see it quite a bit.

Ibix · Mar 5, 2020

It's standard computer and calculator notation for "times ten to the power". So it's saying that one light year is 5.879×10¹² miles.

TaurusSteve · Mar 5, 2020

Ibix said:

It's standard computer and calculator notation for "times ten to the power". So it's saying that one light year is 5.879×10¹² miles.

Thanks. So 10 times 12 times

Ibix · Mar 5, 2020

TaurusSteve said:

Thanks. So 10 times 12 times

If you mean 5.879×10×10×10×...×10 with twelve ×10s, yes.

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