Number Bases & Scientific Notation

Notes Calculator accepts numbers written in scientific notation, hexadecimal, binary, and octal. You can also ask any result to render in those formats with an in / as postfix.

Scientific notation literals

Use e (or E) to write a number in scientific notation. The exponent sign is optional.

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Calculation example

Calculation	Result
11.5e6	1,500,000
22.5E-3 to 4 dp	0.0025
35e+3	5,000
41e10	10,000,000,000

Scientific literals participate in arithmetic exactly like any other number:

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Calculation example

Calculation	Result
11.5e6 + 1	1,500,001
21.5e6 * 2	3,000,000

Hex, binary, and octal literals

Prefix integer literals with 0x (hex), 0b (binary), or 0o (octal). The prefix and digits are case-insensitive.

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Calculation example

Calculation	Result
10xFF	255
20xDEADBEEF	3,735,928,559
30b1010	10
40b11111111	255
50o17	15
60O377	255

Mix bases freely in expressions:

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Calculation example

Calculation	Result
10xFF + 1	256
20b1010 + 5	15

Display postfix: in / as

Append in <format> or as <format> to a number or expression to choose how the result is displayed. The underlying value is unchanged. Only the rendering is affected.

Notes CalculatorCopy

Calculation example

Calculation	Result
1255 in hex	FF
2255 in binary	11111111
3255 in octal	377
41234567 as scientific	1.234567e6
51234567 as fixed	1,234,567

Both in and as are accepted, and as decimal is an alias for as fixed.

The postfix attaches to the whole expression on its left, so parentheses can be used to format an arithmetic result:

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Calculation example

Calculation	Result
1(0xFF + 1) in hex	100
2(0b1010 + 5) in binary	1111

in hex, in binary, and in octal require an integer value: with a non-integer the line shows nothing.

Converting between number systems

A number can also carry its base as a unit, written as a subscript (₂, ₈, ₁₀, ₁₆) or a name such as binary or decimal (see the Unit Reference). Convert it with in:

Notes CalculatorCopy

Calculation example

Calculation	Result
111₂ in ₁₀	3
2255₁₀ in ₁₆	FF
311 binary in decimal	3
4255 decimal in hex	FF

Global default format

The default format for numeric results is set in Settings → Number format:

• Auto: plain decimal for everyday values; switches to scientific for very large or very small numbers. (Default.)
• Scientific: every number renders in scientific notation.
• Fixed: every number renders as a plain decimal, never in scientific notation.

A per-line as scientific / as fixed postfix always overrides the global setting.

Very small numbers keep their significant digits instead of rounding down to 0.00:

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Calculation example

Calculation	Result
10.0001	0.0001
21/3000	0.00033
30.000012345	1.23e-5
41 µg in mg	0.001 mg