LAW OF EXPONENTS

Objectives

At the end of this module, students should be able to:

 Apply the laws involving integral exponents to zero and negative integral
exponents (M9AL-IId-1)

 Illustrate expressions with rational exponents (M9AL-IId-2); and

 Simplify Expressions with rational exponents (M9AL-IIe-1)

Natural Number Exponents

𝒏
𝒙 =𝒙 ∗ 𝒙 ∗ 𝒙 . . .∗ 𝒙

{
If n is a natural number, then:

n factors of x

x is a called the base

nth power of x. n is a called the exponent
 Laws of Exponents

Product Rule for Exponents 𝒎 𝒏 𝒎+𝒏

𝒙 ∗ 𝒙 =𝒙
If m and n are natural numbers, then:

𝟓 𝟔
𝒙 ∗𝒙

𝟐 𝟐 𝟑
−𝟒 𝒙𝒚 ∗𝟐 𝒙 𝒚

𝟐 𝟒
𝟑 ∗𝟑
Laws of Exponents
𝒎
𝒙 𝒎− 𝒏
Quotient Rule for Exponents If m and n are natural numbers, then: 𝒏
= 𝒙
𝒙
𝟓
𝒙
𝟑
𝒙

𝟑
𝒙
𝟑
𝒙

𝟐
𝒙
𝟓
𝒙
Laws of Exponents 𝒎 𝒎 𝒎
( 𝒙𝒚 ) =𝒙 𝒚
Product to a Power Rule for For any factors x and y and integer( 𝒙 𝒎 𝒚 𝒏) 𝒑=𝒙 𝒎 𝒑 𝒚 𝒏𝒑
Exponents exponent n:

𝟔
(𝒂𝒃) =¿

𝟓 𝟐 𝟑
(− 𝟒 𝒆 𝒇 ) =¿

𝟑 𝟐 𝟐
(𝟑 𝒈 𝒉 ) =¿
Laws of Exponents

( )
𝒎 𝒎
𝒙 𝒙
Quotient to a Power Rule for For any dividend x, nonzero = 𝒎
Exponents divisor y, and integer exponent m: 𝒚 𝒚

( )
𝟐 𝟐
𝟒𝒂
𝟑
𝒏

( )
𝟑 𝟑
𝟑𝒂 𝒄
𝟐
𝟐𝒃
Laws of Exponents
Any number, excluding zero, with an
Zero Exponent 𝟎
𝒙 =𝟏 , 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒙 ≠𝟎
exponent of 0 is equal to 1.

𝟎
(𝟑 𝒙) =¿

𝟎
𝟑( 𝒙) =¿

𝟎
( 𝒙 + 𝒚 ) =¿
Laws of Exponents
−𝒏 𝟏 𝒏 𝟏 and n is a
Negative Exponent 𝒙 = 𝒏 𝒙 = −𝒏 counting number
𝒙 𝒙

Write the following without negative exponent

−𝟐
(𝒙) 𝟓𝒙
−𝟑
Laws of Exponents
−𝒏 𝟏 𝟏
𝒏
and n is a
Negative Exponent 𝒙 = 𝒏 𝒙 = −𝒏 counting number
𝒙 𝒙

Write the following without negative exponent

− 𝟐 −𝟑 𝟒
(𝟐 𝒙 𝒚 )
𝟑
−𝟒 𝒙𝒚
−𝟓
−𝟒
𝒙
Examples:
Write an equivalent expression without using fractions. Assume that the variables and
denominators are nonzero constant.
𝟒 −𝟐
𝟐 𝟕
𝟔 −𝟒
𝟑 𝟑

𝟏𝟎 𝟒(𝟏𝟎)
𝟓
𝟓
𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟓
Examples
Simplify each. Assume that each variable is a non-zero constant.

( )
−𝟓 − 𝟑
(𝒙 𝒚 )
−𝟑 𝟐
𝟒
𝟑
𝟕 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎
𝟑 𝟏𝟎 +𝟐𝟎 +𝟑𝟎
𝟒 𝟕