Exponent Activity

Monday, October 08, 2012 10:43 AM

Part 1
1. What is a base?

A base is the number that is below the elevated number. The base is also the big number. A power is the exponent or elevated number above the big number. When you have both it is telling you to multiply the big number as many times as the little number says. It is a short cut for a long multiplication problem (ex: 4^5 instead of 4*4*4*4*4) number? You could geometry because since geometry is all about shapes, you could take a certain number of cubes (representing the big number) and take that many number of cubes in the exponent and put the cubes on top of the original.
Part 2: Negative and Positive Exponents
Base 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Exponent Meaning 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 2*2*2*2 2*2*2 2*2 2 2 -2 -2*-2 -2*-2*-2 Value 16 8 4 2 1 1/2 1/4 1/8

2. What is a power?

3. What does a base and power (exponent) tell you to do?

4. What is a power a shortcut to?

5. How could you use geometry to describe squaring or cubing a

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

Introduction to Exponents Page 1

As you increase the exponent, what is operation happening to the base? The operation happening is the numbers are multiplying by two the more you increase the exponent. Starting with the exponent of 4, as you decrease each exponent, what operation is happening to the base? The operation happening to the base is division when you decrease the exponent more. Does the pattern work from 2^-4 to 2^4 as the exponent increases each time? Yes the pattern is throughout the entire chart. Part 3: Powers of Variables 1. What do you get when you add x by x? 2. What do you get when you subtract x by x? 3. What do you get when you multiply x by x? 4. What do you get when you divide x by x? 5. What do you get when you multiply x by x by x? 6. What about x by x by x by x by x? 7. What do you get when you multiply x^2 by x?

8. What about x^2 by x^3?

9. What about x^4 by x^6?

10. When multiplying with the same base you will always be multiplying the base along with one or more numbers, regardless if
Introduction to Exponents Page 2

multiplying the base along with one or more numbers, regardless if that number is an unknown or a normal number. 11. What do you get when you divide x by x? 12. What do you get when you multiply x^2 by x? 13. What about x^4 by x^2? 14. What do you get when you divide x^5 by x^3? 15. What about x^6 by x?

16. When you divide same bases you are subtracting the smallest exponent by the biggest exponent. 17. What do you get when you square x^3? 18. What do you get when you square x^4? 19. What do you get when you cube x^2? 20. What do you get when you raise x^3 to the fourth power? 21. What do you get when you raise x^2 to the fifth power?

22. When you raise the base using the exponents you are multiplying the exponents to get the unknown and the exponents multiplied together.

Introduction to Exponents Page 3