0.00005 in Scientific Notation

0.00005 in scientific notation

0.00005 = 5 \times 10^{-5}

0.00005 in scientific notation is 5 × 10⁻⁵ – the decimal point moves 5 places to the right, so the power of ten is −5.

  • E-notation: 5E-5 (calculators, Excel, programming)
  • Engineering notation: 50 × 10⁻⁶ (the power is a multiple of 3)
  • Said aloud: five times ten to the power of negative five
  • Significant figures: 1
  • Order of magnitude: \displaystyle 10^{-5}
  • As a fraction: 1/20,000

Step-by-step solution

The problem

\text{Write } 0.00005 \text{ in scientific notation}
1

Find the coefficient

a = 5

Scientific notation is \displaystyle a \times 10^{n} with \displaystyle 1 \le a < 10. Put the decimal point just after the first non-zero digit (5).

2

Count the places the decimal point moves

  1. 0.00005
  2. 0.0005
  3. 0.005
  4. 0.05
  5. 0.5
  6. 5

From \displaystyle 0.00005 to \displaystyle 5 the decimal point moves 5 places to the right.

3

Choose the sign of the exponent

n = -5

The number is less than 1, so the point moved right and the exponent is negative: each place right multiplies by 10, and \displaystyle 10^{-5} divides it back.

4

Write it in scientific notation

0.00005 = \textcolor{#0b5c56}{5 \times 10^{-5}}

Check

5 \times 10^{-5} = 5 \div 100{,}000 = 0.00005 \;\checkmark

Multiply the coefficient by the power of ten (a negative power divides) to get back the number.

The digits 5 at other powers of ten

Only the power changes when the decimal point moves – each place right is one more step of ten.

NumberScientific notationE-notation
0.55 × 10⁻¹5E-1
0.055 × 10⁻²5E-2
0.0055 × 10⁻³5E-3
0.00055 × 10⁻⁴5E-4
0.000055 × 10⁻⁵5E-5
0.0000055 × 10⁻⁶5E-6
0.00000055 × 10⁻⁷5E-7
0.000000055 × 10⁻⁸5E-8
0.0000000055 × 10⁻⁹5E-9

Other numbers × 10⁻⁵

Try different values

Frequently asked questions

Is 50 × 10⁻⁶ the same as 5 × 10⁻⁵?

It has the same value, but it isn’t scientific notation: the number in front must be at least 1 and less than 10, and 50 is not. Move the point one more place and add 1 to the power: 5 × 10⁻⁵.

Any other number – or multiplying, dividing, adding and subtracting in scientific notation – use the Scientific Notation Calculator.