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toExponential() Method – How to Convert Numbers to Exponential Notations

toExponential() converts a number to its exponential equivalent (Scientific Notation).

In other words, whenever you use toExponential() on a number, the method does the following:

  • It places a decimal point after the first digit of the specified number.
  • It uses an exponential notation to express how many places it moved the decimal point.

For instance, consider the following number:

703.59

7.0359e+2 is the exponential equivalent of the number above because we moved the decimal point twice from its initial position to its final place.

Illustration of a number's
exponent

An e+2 exponential notation means the number’s decimal point moved two places to the left.

toExponential() accepts only one optional argument. Here is the syntax:

number.toExponential(totalFractionDigits);

The totalFractionDigits argument specifies the number of digits browsers should show after the decimal point. If omitted, browsers will use as many digits as necessary to represent the number.

Below are examples of the toExponential() method.

const number = 703.59;
number.toExponential();
// The invocation above will return: 7.0359e+2

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const number = 7.0359;
number.toExponential();
// The invocation above will return: 7.0359e+0

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Convert 0.70359 to an exponential notation

Section titled “Convert 0.70359 to an exponential notation”
const number = 0.70359;
number.toExponential();
// The invocation above will return: 7.0359e-1

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Convert 0.000070359 to an exponential notation

Section titled “Convert 0.000070359 to an exponential notation”
const number = 0.000070359;
number.toExponential();
// The invocation above will return: 7.0359e-5

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Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with no decimal digits

Section titled “Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with no decimal digits”
const number = 703.59;
number.toExponential(0);
// The invocation above will return: 7e+2

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Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with only one decimal digit

Section titled “Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with only one decimal digit”
const number = 703.59;
number.toExponential(1);
// The invocation above will return: 7.0e+2

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Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with three decimal digits

Section titled “Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with three decimal digits”
const number = 703.59;
number.toExponential(3);
// The invocation above will return: 7.036e+2

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Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with seven decimal digits

Section titled “Convert 703.59 to an exponential notation with seven decimal digits”
const number = 703.59;
number.toExponential(7);
// The invocation above will return: 7.0359000e+2

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