ScientificNotationNode

ScientificNotationNode (from scenerystack/scenery-phet) displays a numeric TReadOnlyProperty<number | null> as M x 10^E — a mantissa, a "x 10" label, and a superscript-styled exponent — updating automatically whenever the Property changes. It handles the layout of the three text pieces (mantissa, "x 10", exponent) for you, including several special-cased display simplifications for integers and zero.

import { ScientificNotationNode } from 'scenerystack/scenery-phet';
import { NumberProperty } from 'scenerystack/axon';

A minimal example

const valueProperty = new NumberProperty( 0.0002342 );

const notationNode = new ScientificNotationNode( valueProperty, {
  mantissaDecimalPlaces: 2
} );
// displays "2.34 x 10⁻⁴" (10 with a small, raised exponent)

valueProperty.value = 8000;
// showIntegersAsMantissaOnly defaults to false, so this still displays as "8 x 10³"

Constructor

new ScientificNotationNode(
  valueProperty: TReadOnlyProperty<number | null>,
  providedOptions?: ScientificNotationNodeOptions
)

Options

Option	Default	Effect
font	PhetFont( 20 )	Font for the mantissa and "x 10" text
fill	'black'	Text color
exponent	null	Force a specific exponent (mantissa is scaled to match); null computes the exponent so the mantissa has exactly one digit before the decimal point
mantissaDecimalPlaces	1	Decimal places shown in the mantissa
exponentScale	0.75	Scale of the exponent text relative to the mantissa/"x 10" text
showIntegersAsMantissaOnly	false	If true, integers display as a plain number ('8000') instead of '8 x 10^3'
showZeroAsInteger	true	If true, a zero mantissa displays as '0' instead of '0 x 10^E'
showZeroExponent	false	If false, an exponent of 0 displays as just the mantissa ('M') instead of 'M x 10^0'
nullValueString	MathSymbols.NO_VALUE	Displayed string when valueProperty's value is null

Static method

Method	Effect
ScientificNotationNode.toScientificNotation( value, options? )	Pure function (no Node needed) converting a finite number to { mantissa: string; exponent: string }, using the same mantissaDecimalPlaces/exponent options

Non-finite values bypass scientific notation entirely

If valueProperty's value is null, NaN, or ±Infinity, ScientificNotationNode shows nullValueString, 'NaN', or 'Infinity'/'-Infinity' respectively — it never calls toScientificNotation on a non-finite number (which would throw, since toScientificNotation asserts its input isFinite). If you need custom formatting for those edge cases, handle them in a sibling Node rather than expecting an option here.