Integral Exponents

Back in the chapter on Numbers, we came across examples of very large

numbers.

One example was Earth's mass, which is about:

6 × 1024 kg

Earth [image source (NASA)]

In this number, the 10 is raised to the power 24 (we could also say "the
exponent of 10 is 24").

The number 10 is called the base and 24 is called the exponent (or power).

Now, the number 1024 means:

1024 = 10 ×10 ×10 ×10 ×10 × ... ×10 [24 lots of 10]
This is the same as:

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

[That's 1 with 24 zeros]

Exponents give us a very convenient way of writing very large and very small
numbers. They are also very handy for making algebra easier because it is
more compact. Let's now give a general definition for any number (or any
variable) raised to an "integral exponent":
Definition: am means "multiply m lots of a together"

That is:

am = a × a × a × a × a × ... × a
[There are m lots of a in our multiplication.]

Note 1: "Integral exponent" means the exponent is a whole number [That is,
an integer]

Note 2: The above definition only really holds if m is a positive integer, since
it doesn't make a lot of sense if m is negative. (You can't multiply something
by itself negative 3 times! And what does multiplying something by itself 0
times mean?). In such cases we have to rely on patterns and conventions to
define what is going on. See below for zero and negative exponents.

Example 1: Integral Exponents

(1) y5 = y × y × y × y × y

[There are 5 lots of y being multiplied together.]

(2) 24 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16

[There are 4 lots of 2 multiplied together.]

(3) 106 = 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000,000

[There are 6 lots of 10 multiplied together.]

 What if there is more than one variable? Do each base separately.

What if there is a coefficient in front of the variable? Divide the coefficients.

What if the exponent is negative?

III. Raising a power to a power

When you raise a power to a power you multiply exponents.

(x3)5 = x3•5 = x15

What if there is more than one variable?

(x2y)3 = x2•3 y1•3 = x6y3

What if there is a coefficient?

(2x4y2)4 = 24 x4•4y2•4 = 16x16y8

IV. Negative exponent Rule

 1st write with a "top floor" and "bottom floor"

2nd change floors if the exponent is "unhappy"

 The exponent is unhappy in the denominator so
move to the numerator and it becomes positive.

Let's look at some more challenging examples

Remember to work slowly and meticulously. You will need to memorize the rules for
exponents. A shortened version:

Multiply → Add exponents

Divide → Subtract exponents

Power to a power → Multiply exponents

Negative → Change "floors"