Floating Point Notation is a method of representing very large or very small numbers in an expression of fixed size that closely resembles scientific notation, in which a number is denoted using a mantissa (a decimal number), a multiplication symbol, the base of the numbering system being used, and an exponent (for example, X 10s).
In floating-point notation, the expression is based on binary numbers; furthermore, the expression is modified by a process called normalization so that the first digit of the mantissa is always 1 (for example, 1.011 [binary] X 24 = 22 [decimal]. This number, called the hidden bit, does not have to be stored in memory.
Floating Point Notation
