A modification of the scientific notation for binary numbers is to require that the leading binary digit 1 appears to the left of the binary point. In this case the representation of the mantissa $q$ would be $(1.f)_2$ and $ 1 \le q < 2$. This form is rather useful when storing binary numbers in a computer word, since we can always assume that the leading bit 1 is there. One bit of space can then be saved meaning that a 23 bits mantissa has actually 24 bits. This means explicitely that a binary number with 23 bits for the mantissa reads $$\begin{equation} (1.a_{-1}a_{-2}\dots a_{-23})_2=1\times 2^0+a_{-1}\times 2^{-1}+ +a_{-2}\times 2^{-2}+\dots+a_{-23}\times 2^{-23}. \tag{5} \end{equation}$$