Scientists, economists, engineers, and others often use the number \(e\) in their mathematical models. What is \(e\)?
\(\boldsymbol{e}\) is an important constant in mathematics, just like the constant \(\pi\), which is important in geometry. The value of \(e\) is approximately 2.718. Like \(\pi\), the number \(e\) is irrational, so it can’t be represented as a fraction, and its decimal representation never repeats or terminates. The number is named after the 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler and is sometimes called Euler’s number.
\(e\) has many useful properties and it arises in situations involving exponential growth or decay, so \(e\) often appears in exponential functions.