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?

Question

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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Answer 1

E is a term in scientific notation saying that the actual value is many powers of 10 greater or lesser.

Instead of writing 8,120,000,000, we write 8.12 x 10^9, or 8.12e9.

Instead of writing 0.000037, we write 3.7 x 10^-5, or 3.7e-5.