Add Scientific Notation Calculator

Scientific notation is related to the  We can represent it as follows:

a . 10 ^b

a = coefficient / mantissa

10 = base

b = exponent / order of magnitude

It is possible to perform operations such as addition and subtraction with numbers represented in the form of scientific notation. Follow:

• Subtract Scientific Notation Calculator
• Multiply Scientific Notation Calculator
• Divide Scientific Notation Calculator

The addition in scientific notation

To add numerical terms written as scientific notation, the numbers must have the same order of magnitude, that is, the same exponent. When this happens, we can add the coefficients and conserve base ten power. See the general formula and some examples:

General formula for addition to scientific notation

(x . 10^a ) + (y . 10^a ) = (x + y) . 10^a

• Example: Add the scientific notations below:
• a) 1.2 x 10² + 11.5 x 10² = (1.2 + 11.5) x 10² = 12.7 x 10² = 1.27 x 10³
• b) 0.23 x 10^-3 + 0.4 x 10^-3 = (0.23 + 0.4) x 10^-3 = 0.63 x 10^-3 = 6.3 x 10^-4
• c) 200 + 3.5 x 10² = 2 x 10² + 3.5 x 10² = (2 + 3.5) x 10² = 5.5 x 10² → In this example, we had to convert 200 to 2. By doing this, we obtain the same order of magnitude for the two scientific notations.