Revision Notes

Class – 8 Math
Chapter – 12 Exponents and Powers

The following exponent laws apply to numbers with exponents.

a) a m  a n = a m+n
b) a m  a n = a m-n
c)  a m  = a mn
n

d) a m  bm =  ab 
m

e) a 0 = 1
m
am  a 
f) n =  
b b

● Negative exponents can be used to express very tiny values in standard

form. Exponents are used to express small numbers in standard form as
follows:
1. Standard form can be used to express both very big and very small
numbers.
2. Scientific notation form is another name for standard form.

● If m is a decimal number, where 1  m < 10 and n is either a positive

or negative integer, then a number represented as m  10n is said to be
in standard form, 150,000,000,000  1.5  1011 , for example.
The use of exponential notation to indicate repeated multiplication of
the same number is very useful. The product
n
a × a × a × a × a... × a (n times) = a , for any non-zero rational integer
‘a' and a natural number n.
It is written as ‘a' raised to the power ‘n' and is referred to as the nth
power of ‘a.' The base is the rational number a, and the exponent is the
rational number n.

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