Convert to and from standard form, and add, subtract, multiply and divide with full step-by-step working. Examples with the same power of 10 and different powers of 10. Free, no sign-up. More: Factorise quadratics · Nth term finder · Area & perimeter
Standard form (also called scientific notation) is a way to write very large or very small numbers as A × 10n, where 1 ≤ A < 10 and n is an integer. Use the calculator below to convert numbers to or from standard form, or to add, subtract, multiply or divide. Each result shows every step of the process. Scroll down for worked examples: converting to and from standard form, and addition/subtraction with the same and different powers of 10.
You may also see numbers written in calculator notation (e.g. 5.6e-3); this is an alternative that you may come across, but it is not generally used in the UK.
Choose an operation
Enter an ordinary number (e.g. 34000 or 0.0056) to convert it to standard form.
Enter a number in standard form (e.g. 3.4×10⁴) to convert to ordinary form.
Enter two numbers in standard form (e.g. 2×10³ and 3×10⁴). Same or different powers of 10 both work.
Enter two numbers in standard form. We'll show subtraction with steps.
Enter two numbers in standard form to multiply them.
Enter two numbers in standard form to divide the first by the second.
These examples show every step: converting to and from standard form, and addition/subtraction with the same and different powers of 10.
Example: Write 34 600 in standard form.
Example: Write 5.2 × 106 as an ordinary number.
Example: 2 × 104 + 3 × 104
Example: 2 × 103 + 3 × 104
Example: 7 × 105 − 2 × 105
Example: 3 × 104 − 2 × 103
Example: (2 × 103) × (4 × 105)
Example: (8 × 107) ÷ (2 × 102)