An elementary theory of praxis:

Indices The rules of indices The index is simply the power a

base is raised to. In the example328, 2 is the base, 3 is the index,
exponent or power and 8 is the numeric value obtained if we raise 2
to the 3rd power. Most questions will ask you to simplify expression
or find numerical values and use one of the rules below.  0111mnm
nmnm nnmmnmmmmnnaaaaaaaaaaaaa      Most exam

questions will be 1 or 2 marks. If they are worth 2 marks show

workings e.g. Find323625   333223625512525366216    
          Another typical question might ask us to Find
the value of xgiven3124xx.I know 4 is a power of 2 (or vice versa)
so I can rewrite the equation such that I have the same base (2):
3212(2 )xxUsing the rules of indices: 32(1)22xxIf the bases (2) are the

same we can simply equate the powers and solve forx.

32(1)3222xxxxx  To check my answer I can substitute
2xback in to the equation see if it makes the equation true. We
know 632464  and therefore we have the correct answer. Do
check your answer! We may have to expand brackets and simplify.
An exam question could be: Expand and simplify
132235xxgiving your answers in descending powers ofx:

Showing full workings and using the rules of indices:     

1313222213222533 55315xxxxxxx                 
 Finally, putting my answer in descending powers ofx, the answer
is: 312223515xxx  If we have 1416we don’t divide by 4, we take the
4th root. This is a common error. Another common error is with
negative powers. Remember1mmaa. This will not give a negative
value. 3311228 One important rule to remember is12aa. You can
use this when working with surds and indices... This will be very
important when it comes to differentiation and integration in the
section on calculus.