How do you store very large numbers in standard form?

I have tried using doubles and floats, but with no success. What data type would you use if you wanted to store a large number in standard form? The number I want to store is 2m/(hbar^2) which is roughly 1.636*10^38. Do I need to use a mathematics lib like gmp in order to do it?

That should work just fine in a "double", as double supports about 1e308.

--
Mats

This worked fine for me:

Code:

---

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {
   
    double large;
    scanf("%lf", &large);
    printf("%g\n", large);
    return 0;
}

---

Code:

---

C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew Feist\Desktop>temp
1.636e38
1.636e+038

---

> Do I need to use a mathematics lib like gmp in order to do it?
That depends on whether you need the absolute accuracy offered by GMP, or the relatively accurate approximations offered by the floating point formats.

For example, if you're trying to do crypto with large prime numbers, then you definitely need GMP.

"There's safety in numbers, large prime numbers!".