The mantissa (also called significand) is the part of the number representing the actual value (significant digits). The exponent is the power of 2 that the mantissa should be multiplied by. Thinking about it as scientific notation:
The mantissa (also called significand) is the part of the number representing the actual value (significant digits). The exponent is the power of 2 that the mantissa should be multiplied by. Thinking about it as scientific notation: