Laws of Exponents

Whenever we have variables which

contain exponents and have equal bases,
we can do certain mathematical
operations to them. Those operations
are called the “Laws of Exponents”

b x
b = base x = exponent
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 Laws of Exponents
2.  xy   x y
m n m
1. x  x  x
m n m m

m
x
3.  x 
m
m n x
x mn
4.    m
 y y
m
x mn
5a. if m  n , then n  x
x
m
x 1
5b. if n  m , then n  n  m
x x
 Other Properties of Exponents
1
x 1
0 1
x 
x
Any single number or variable is always to
the first power

2x  2 x   2x
1
33 1
aa 1 1 1
 Basic Examples
2 3
x x  x
2 3
x 5

x 
4 3
x 43
x 12

 xy  3
x y
3 3
 Basic Examples
3
x x3
   3
 y y
7 74
x x
4
  x 3

x 1
5
x 1 1
7
 7 5
 2
x x x
 More Examples

2a 3  7 a 4   2  7  a 34  14a 7
 5r 2  8r 3  2r 2    5  8  2 r 23 2   80r 7
 2m n 
2 5 3 13
2 m n
23 53
 2 m n  8m n
3 6 15 6 15

 3xy  3
 3 x y  27 x y
3 3 3 3 3

22 2 2
 
2 a 2 a 4 a
   2 2  2
 3b  3 b 9b
4 4 1
8x 8x
  4x 3
2x 2 1
9z3 9 1 1 3
5
 5 3
3 2  2
3z 3z x x
 More Examples

3 x 3 y 2 z  7 xyz 2   3  7  x 31 y 21 z1 2  21x 4 y 3 z 3

 
 8 xy 2  3 xy   2 xy 3    8  3  2 x111 y 213  48 x 3 y 6

3x y   2 xy
2 3 2 2 2
  3
12
x 22 y 32  212 x12 y 22  

9 x 4 y 6  4 x 2 y 4   9  4  x 4 2 y 6 4  36 x 6 y10

3
 5a b  513 a 33b13 53 a 9b 3 125a 9b 3 125a 93 125a 6
3
   13 13 23  3 3 6 
2  3 6
 6 3
 3
 3ab  3 a b 3 a b 27 a b 27 b 27 b