What is the Difference Between D and E in Scientific Notation?

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SUMMARY

The difference between 6.6725985D-20 and 6.6725985E-20 lies in their representation of numerical precision in programming. The 'D' notation indicates double precision storage, while 'E' denotes single precision, commonly used in languages like Fortran. In Visual Basic (VB), the editor automatically converts 'D' to 'E' based on the precision defined in the Dim statement. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for programmers working with numerical data types.

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  • Understanding of numerical data types in programming
  • Familiarity with double precision and single precision concepts
  • Basic knowledge of Fortran and Visual Basic (VB)
  • Awareness of how programming languages handle scientific notation
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  • Research the differences between single precision and double precision in programming
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What's the difference between:

6.6725985D-20

and

6.6725985E-20
 
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From a computer programming point of view the D means the number is stored as double precision where as E is stored as single precision (for exmaple this is the notiation used in the fortran programming language, but it may apply to other languages, I am not sure). If you arent doing any programming but just came across this then you shouldn't need to worry about it and yo ucan assume that the two are equivalent. If you are programming then do some googling/reading on single/double precision etc.
 
Thanks. That makes sense. I was wondering in relation to VB. I just tried it, and the VB editor automatically changes D to E, with the precision set in the Dim statement.
 

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