ELI5-What does the ‘e’ in large calculations mean, and why does it only appear in a calculator and not when one actually solves problems?
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The e is just a representation. The calculator solves things into scientific notation. Basically, scientific notation just shortens a number by multiplying by 10 to the power of x. For example, nine hundred thousand (900,000) in scientific notation would be 9×10^5. In really simple terms, its just how many “zeroes” after the decimal, since you are multiplying by 10. A calculator would read that as 9e5. Its not a variable so its not in any math equation, it just represents a number. People just write out 9×10^5 because e looks like a variable or eulers number.
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