The tutor explains how to change from scientific notation to regular number format in Excel or LibreOffice Calc.

In my post from Feb 14 I mention that 1.69e-05 equals 0.0000169. Written 1.69e-05, the number is in scientific notation. Perhaps the user is not familiar, or not comfortable with that format – what can be done?

1. Right-click the cell with the number in scientific notation.
2. Click Format Cells…
3. Click Number. There is a click box for the number of decimal places; if the number is in scientific notation with e-05 or such, you’ll likely need lots (maybe 10 or more). There are also choices for how you want the number to appear; select the one desired.
4. Click OK: Hopefully the number will now be in “ordinary” format.
5. You may need to widen the column to accommodate the number.
6. If there is a positive number after the e, the cell contains a large value: for example, 1e+06 is 1 000 000. In such a case, you probably won’t need more decimal places, but might need to widen the column to accommodate the number in regular format:)

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.