## Calculator number meaning

$c=\lambda v$

Eileen Quach Dis 2A
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:49 pm

### Calculator number meaning

Hi!
I was wondering why whenever I get an answer on my calculator that is a number times e to some power, it's equivalent to that number times 10 to the same power. Why does this work if e and 10 are two different values? Thank you!

Annie Tong 2G
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:42 pm
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### Re: Calculator number meaning

Yep! If you see 2.222e23, that means it's 2.222 x 10^23. If it says 2.222e-23, that equals 2.222 x 10^-23.

Posts: 109
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:40 pm
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### Re: Calculator number meaning

Actually, the e you're referring to is different than the e used for powers of 10.
One e is a constant that is equal to 2.71828, while the other e stands for "exponent" and refers to "10 to the power of _".
I'm sure there is a separate button on your calculator that is referring to the constant e.

VincentLe_3A
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 10:01 pm

### Re: Calculator number meaning

Hi, so Euler's number, which is often represented as a lowercase e, does have a different value than 10. However, this is not to be confused with the one shown on your calculator, which is an uppercase E that refers to "exponent" with a base of 10 followed by a number to represent the power. Therefore, since E has a base of 10, a number times E to some power is equivalent to a number times 10 to some power.

Edward Tang 1k
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Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 10:00 pm
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### Re: Calculator number meaning

e to represent "times ten to the power of" is different from the Eulers number, which is also represented by e. I found them confusing initially too but just think of them as different things. The e used to represent 10^ has nothing to do with 2.718.... I think it's also pretty clear how the calculator is using the "e" so should've be too much of a hazard.

Gian Boco 2G
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:36 pm

### Re: Calculator number meaning

Like the previous replies said, e is used to mean "10 to the power of." You can even input your own "E" by pressing "2nd" and then "," (comma) on the TI-84 if you have one. This makes it a lot easier to input very low/high values without *10^x and adding all the parentheses.

Tanya Nguyen 1B
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:33 pm

### Re: Calculator number meaning

VincentLe mentioned it before, e and 10 has different values, whereas E is referring to 10 to the power of_. Just be sure to check your calculator so you don't confuse the two, but I am pretty sure most calculators will note it with a capital E.