: Re: What's the correct way to write 3 x 10^6 (three million)? I am reviewing some research reports and found myself diving into the black hole of technical writing style. My question is what

@Goswami879

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When you select one way of number notation, stick to it.

"Three million" is appropriate in a text where readability is more important than precision, like "The intensity was three million times stronger than the reference". Whenever the number that you use needs to be referenced of copypasted, use a numeric form.

Scientific notation is a de-facto standard for scientific papers. Multiplication symbol ( × ) is used, so the number would be written as 3 × 106. To reflect the level of precision you may opt to write 3.0 × 106 or 3.00 × 106

The letter x can be used as a "cheap substitute" for the multiplication symbol.

You can also follow ISO 31-0 and write it as "3 000 000" (note it is using the spaces as group separators). This will convey the idea that this number is precise rather than approximate.

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