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How to convert a number to scientific notation in Python

How to convert a number to scientific notation in Python.

Here is a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to convert a number to scientific notation in Python:

Step 1: Define the number you want to convert​

First, you need to define the number that you want to convert to scientific notation. Let's assume you have a number stored in a variable called number.

Step 2: Determine the exponent​

To convert a number to scientific notation, you need to find the exponent. The exponent represents the number of decimal places you need to move the decimal point to have one non-zero digit to the left of the decimal point. To find the exponent, you can use the math.log10() function in Python.

import math

exponent = int(math.log10(abs(number)))

Here, we use the abs() function to get the absolute value of the number, and then apply the math.log10() function to find the logarithm base 10. Finally, we convert the result to an integer using the int() function to get the exponent.

Step 3: Calculate the coefficient​

The coefficient is the decimal part of the number that will be multiplied by 10 raised to the power of the exponent. To calculate the coefficient, you can divide the original number by 10 raised to the power of the exponent.

coefficient = number / (10 ** exponent)

Here, we use the exponent calculated in the previous step to compute the coefficient.

Step 4: Format the result in scientific notation​

To format the number in scientific notation, you can use the "{:.2e}".format() string formatting method in Python. The ".2e" part specifies that you want to format the number using scientific notation with 2 decimal places.

scientific_notation = "{:.2e}".format(number)

Here, we format the number using "{:.2e}" to get the scientific notation representation with 2 decimal places.

Step 5: Print or use the result​

Finally, you can print or use the resulting scientific notation representation of the number as needed.

print(scientific_notation)

This will print the number in scientific notation format.

Here is the complete code:

import math

number = 1234567890.123456789

exponent = int(math.log10(abs(number)))
coefficient = number / (10 ** exponent)
scientific_notation = "{:.2e}".format(number)

print(scientific_notation)

Output:

1.23e+09

That's it! You have successfully converted a number to scientific notation in Python.