How to find the mean of very small numbers in numeric form that are represented with scientific notation in R?


If we find the mean of scientific numbers then the result will be also in scientific notation. We can get rid of this problem by using options(scipen=999), once we will use this code in R console all the inputs that are in scientific notation will be converted to normal numeric form, including any calculation and if we want to go back to the scientific notation then options(scipen=0) can be used.

Example

Live Demo

> x1<-c(4.225867e-23,3.463125e-24,2.480971e-35,1.660538e-26,1.074064e-37,6.829168e-29,4.305051e-21,2.702241e-27,1.692533e-29,1.058970e-29,6.622117e-34,4.139935e-36,2.587807e-37,1.617488e-38,1.010964e-39,6.318630e-21,3.949177e-22,2.468246e-23,1.542657e-24,9.641616e-26,6.026013e-27,3.766259e-28,2.353912e-29,1.471195e-30,9.194971e-32)
> mean(x1)

Output

[1] 4.436267e-22

Example

> options(scipen=999)
> mean(x1)

Output

[1] 0.0000000000000000000004436267

Example

Live Demo

> x2<-sample(c(4.225867e-23,3.463125e-24,2.480971e-35,1.660538e-26,1.074064e-37,6.829168e-29,4.305051e-21,2.702241e-27,1.692533e-29,1.058970e-29,6.622117e-34,4.139935e-36,2.587807e-37,1.617488e-38,1.010964e-39,6.318630e-21,3.949177e-22,2.468246e-23,1.542657e-24,9.641616e-26,6.026013e-27,3.766259e-28,2.353912e-29,1.471195e-30,9.194971e-32),50,replace=TRUE)
> x2

Output

[1] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000001010964
[2] 0.000000000000000000000000000068291679999999998
[3] 0.000000000000000000000000006026013000000000181
[4] 0.000000000000000000000000002702241000000000107
[5] 0.000000000000000000000042258669999999998179163
[6] 0.000000000000000000000000000000091949710000000
[7] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000107406400
[8] 0.000000000000000000000000000000091949710000000
[9] 0.000000000000000000000003463124999999999951636
[10] 0.000000000000000000004305051000000000103323794
[11] 0.000000000000000000000001542657000000000059366
[12] 0.000000000000000000000000002702241000000000107
[13] 0.000000000000000000000000000001471195000000000
[14] 0.000000000000000000000000006026013000000000181
[15] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000001010964
[16] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000107406400
[17] 0.000000000000000000000001542657000000000059366
[18] 0.000000000000000000000000096416159999999999745
[19] 0.000000000000000000000000096416159999999999745
[20] 0.000000000000000000000000000000091949710000000
[21] 0.000000000000000000000000000001471195000000000
[22] 0.000000000000000000000000016605380000000000407
[23] 0.000000000000000000000000000023539120000000001
[24] 0.000000000000000000006318630000000000014343665
[25] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000016174880
[26] 0.000000000000000000000003463124999999999951636
[27] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000016174880
[28] 0.000000000000000000000000000068291679999999998
[29] 0.000000000000000000004305051000000000103323794
[30] 0.000000000000000000000042258669999999998179163
[31] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000662211700000
[32] 0.000000000000000000000024682460000000000627761
[33] 0.000000000000000000000024682460000000000627761
[34] 0.000000000000000000000000000068291679999999998
[35] 0.000000000000000000000394917700000000012347870
[36] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000024809710000
[37] 0.000000000000000000000000000068291679999999998
[38] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000001010964
[39] 0.000000000000000000000042258669999999998179163
[40] 0.000000000000000000000000000023539120000000001
[41] 0.000000000000000000000024682460000000000627761
[42] 0.000000000000000000006318630000000000014343665
[43] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000016174880
[44] 0.000000000000000000000000000010589700000000000
[45] 0.000000000000000000000000000000091949710000000
[46] 0.000000000000000000004305051000000000103323794
[47] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000024809710000
[48] 0.000000000000000000000000000010589700000000000
[49] 0.000000000000000000000001542657000000000059366
[50] 0.000000000000000000000000006026013000000000181

Example

> mean(x2)

Output

[1] 0.0000000000000000000005231988

Example

Live Demo

> x3<-sample(c(4.225867e-23,3.463125e-24,2.480971e-35,1.660538e-26,1.074064e-37,6.829168e-29,4.305051e-21),50,replace=TRUE)
> x3

Output


[1] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[2] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[3] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[4] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[5] 0.0000000000000000000000000000682916800000000
[6] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[7] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[8] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[9] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[10] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[11] 0.0000000000000000000000422586699999999981792
[12] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[13] 0.0000000000000000000000422586699999999981792
[14] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[15] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[16] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[17] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[18] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[19] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000248097100
[20] 0.0000000000000000000000000000682916800000000
[21] 0.0000000000000000000000000000682916800000000
[22] 0.0000000000000000000000000166053800000000004
[23] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[24] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[25] 0.0000000000000000000000000000682916800000000
[26] 0.0000000000000000000000000166053800000000004
[27] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[28] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[29] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000248097100
[30] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000248097100
[31] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[32] 0.0000000000000000000000000000682916800000000
[33] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[34] 0.0000000000000000000000000166053800000000004
[35] 0.0000000000000000000043050510000000001033238
[36] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[37] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[38] 0.0000000000000000000000000166053800000000004
[39] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[40] 0.0000000000000000000000000000682916800000000
[41] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000248097100
[42] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000248097100
[43] 0.0000000000000000000000034631249999999999516
[44] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[45] 0.0000000000000000000000000000682916800000000
[46] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[47] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[48] 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001074064
[49] 0.0000000000000000000000000166053800000000004
[50] 0.0000000000000000000000000166053800000000004

Example

> mean(x3)

Output

[1] 0.0000000000000000000008632566

Updated on: 23-Nov-2020

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