Scientific notation doesn't make sense?

Asked Apr 14 '17 at 15:26

Active Apr 14 '17 at 15:26

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I've already looked at this and this question.

However, using R, I get an output like 4.97e+00. By the other questions this should mean $4.97 \times 10^{+00} = 4.97$ however this wouldn't make sense. Why would they even bother, where they could just write $4.97$? What does this mean?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:39

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asked Apr 14 '17 at 15:26

Euler_Salter

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To keep the formatting the same. It helps when you're doing string processing of these kinds of things. – Ian Apr 14 '17 at 15:28
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It's probably preprogrammed to always give an output in that format. – Marc Apr 14 '17 at 15:28
@Ian oh okay thank you. So does it actually just mean $4.97$? – Euler_Salter Apr 14 '17 at 15:29
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Yes, it does. ${}$ – Ian Apr 14 '17 at 15:30
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Yes, it just means 4.97. – littleO Apr 14 '17 at 15:30

Scientific notation doesn't make sense?

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