Exponentsdiscovery

Monday,October07,2013
9:01AM

Part1

1. IhavelearnedalotaboutExponents.Ilearnedthatnumbers(suchas10)havepatterns
thatifyoulearntofollowmakedoingexponentseasy.Ilearnedabouthowexponents
workedwithavariable.Ilearnedwhatacoefficientis.Acoefficientgoesbeforethe
baseandisaconstant.Also,Ihavelearnedallthedifferentwaystowriteexponents
(exponential,standardandexpanded)andnowIunderstandhowtofindthevalueofa
numberinexponentialformusingacalculator.Ihavelearnedmanyimportantthings
aboutexponents.
2. Thebaseisthenumberthatisbeingmultipliedbyitself.Forexample:

6^4The6isthebaseandisbeingmultipliedbyitself
6*6*6*6

3. Apoweristhenumberthatissmallerandabovetheothernumber.Thisnumberishow
manytimesyoumultiplythebiggernumberbyitself(howmanyofthebiggernumber
isinthemultiplicationproblem).Forexample:

6^4The4isthepowerandishowmany6'sthereistofindthestandard
value:6*6*6*6

4. Whenapersonsee'sandexponentyouwillneedtomultiplythebottomnumberby
itselfmanytimestofindthestandardform.

5. Apowerisashortcuttoalongmultiplicationproblem.Forexample:
Insteadofwriting:4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4=?

Itismuchsimplerandeasiertowrite:4^9
6. Tofindthevolumeofaboxyoucubetheedgelength.Cubedisthenumber3because
tofindthevolumeyouneedtofindthelength(#1)andthanthewidth(#2)andlastly
theheight(#3)andifthesearethesameyoucanjustcubethenumber.Thantofind
theareaofasquareyouneedtofindthelength(#1)timesthewidth(#2).Thatiswhy
areaisalwayssquaredandvolumeisalwayscubed.

Part2

Base

exponent meaning

Value

16

2*2*2*2

Introduction to Exponents Page 1

2*2*2*2

16

2*2*2

2*2

1/2

1/2

1/2*1/2

1/4

1/2*1/2*1/2

1/8

1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2 1/16

Asyouincreasetheexponent,whatisoperationhappeningtothebase?
Astheexponentincreasesthebaseismultipliedonemoretime.
Asyoudecreaseeachexponent,whatoperationishappeningtothebase?
Astheexponentdecreasesyoudividebythebaseonemoretime.
Doublecheckyourtable.Doesthepatternworkfrom2^4to2^4asthe
exponentincreaseseachtime?
Yes,thepatternstaysthesame.Youdividethebasebyonelesseverytimeand
whenyoucannolongerdivideyoustartmultiplyingonemoreeverytime.
Doesthepatternworkfrom2^4to2^4astheexponentdecreaseseachtime?
Yes,thepatternstaysthesame.YouMultiplythebasebyonelesseverytime
andwhenyoucannolongermultiplyyoustartdividingonemoreeverytime.
Part3
1. WhenyouaddXbyXyouget2X
2. WhenyousubtractXbyXyouget0

3. WhenyoumultiplyXbyXyougetX^2
4. WhenyoudivideXbyXyouget1
5. WhenyoumultiplyXbyXbyXyougetX^3
6. WhenyoumultiplyXbyXbyXbyXbyXyougetX^5
7. WhenyoumultiplyX^2byXyougetX^3
8. WhenyoumultiplyX^2byX^3yougetX^5
9. WhenyoumultiplyX^4byX^6yougetX^10
10. Theruleis:Whenmultiplyingtwoexponentswiththe
samebaseyoucanaddthe2powerstogetherto
createonepower.Youcanthenconvertthisto
standardform.

Introduction to Exponents Page 2

createonepower.Youcanthenconvertthisto
standardform.

1. WhenyoumultiplyX^4byX^2yougetX^6
2. WhenyoudivideX^5byX^3yougetX^2
3. WhenyoudivideX^6byXyougetX^5
4. Theruleis:Whendividinganexponentbyan
exponentofthesamebaseyoucansubtractthe2
powersandcreateonepowerforthebase.
1. WhenyousquareX^3yougetX^6
2. WhenyousquareX^4yougetX^8

3. WhenyoucubeX^2yougetX^6

4. WhenyouraiseX^3totheforthpoweryougetX^12

5. WhenyouraiseX^2tothefifthpoweryougetX^10

6. Theruleis:Whenraisingaexponenttoadifferent
powerjustmultiplythe2powerstogetheranduse
theoriginalbase.

Introduction to Exponents Page 3