4
5 . E X P O N E N T D I S P L AY
The distance from the earth to the sun is approx.
1
50,000,000 (
1
.5 x
1
0
8
) km. Values
such as this with many zeros are often used in scientific calculations, but entering the
zeros one by one is a great deal of work and it’s easy to make mistakes.
In such a case, the numerical values are divided into mantissa and exponent portions,
displayed and calculated.
<Example>
W hat is the number of electronics flowing in a conductor when
the electrical charge across a given cross-section is 0.32 cou-
lombs. (The charge on a single electron =
1
.6 x
1
0
-
1
9
coulombs).
0.32
DEG
(normal mode)
(SC I mode)
(EN G mode)
SCI
DEG
X10
ENG
DEG
X10
DEG
19
1.6
DEG
X10
DEG
X10