RULES of Exponents

We have also been talking about exponents. This is one of those few things in math I enjoy, like my factor trees. Exponents is simply a shorthand way of writing multiplication. The exponent represents how many times it will be multiplied by itself.
ex.    5*5*5=5³

Just like all of math though, you have to be aware of the rules that come with exponents. There are some basic rules of exponents:

1st: To try to simplify or do any of the following, the base number must be the same. So in our examples below our base is a.
(a⁴)(b³) = aaaabbb = (a⁴)(b³). Nothing combines.

2nd: When multiplying powers with the same base we add the exponents.

3rd: When dividing powers with the same base we subtract the exponents.


4th:  When you have an exponent expression that is raised to a power, you can multiply the exponent and the power.


5th:   If the power contains a negative exponent, rewrite the expression with a positive exponent by taking the reciprical.

6th:    We said "The exponent represents how many times it will be multiplied by itself. When your base number is to the first power it is ALWAYS the base numer.

7th: Anything to the power of zero is ALWAYS  "1"


I got my clip art from: http://www.math-play.com/exponent-game.html