The exponent is the component of a finite floating-point representation that signifies the integer power to which the radix is raised in determining the value of that floating-point representation. Within the IEEE 754-2008 framework, separate notation is used to specify the exponent in the case that the significand is considered as a single integer digit and/or a fraction field versus the case that the significand is viewed as an integer. In the prior case, the exponent is denoted e; in the latter, it is denoted q. These two notions are connected by the identity e = q + p + 1 for p the precision (IEEE Computer Society 2008).

arithmetic | biased exponent | floating-point algebra | floating-point arithmetic | floating-point normal number | floating-point number | floating-point preferred exponent | floating-point quantum | floating-point representation | IEEE 754-2008 | interval arithmetic | NaN | quiet NaN | signaling NaN | significand | subnormal number