Exponential is handy when it comes to writing large numbers. instead of writing out 1,000,000,000, you can simply write ten to the ninth power, or 10^9
The major advantage of exponential notation is that it simplifies a number into a more readable form, so we don't have to count all the zeros every time we look at it / calculate it. It helps us to identify big numbers as small decimals which we are more familiar with.