POWERS, ROOTS & NEAREST FRACTIONAL EQUIVALENTS Electrical MATH13431 N.

Potter

POWERS:
 Powers are used to express repeated multiplications in a shorter way.

4
You can rewrite the repeated multiplication 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 as the power 5 .
 In this case, 5 is the base, or the factor that is being multiplied
4 is the exponent, which counts the number of factors being multiplied
4
And 5 is called a power, or is a number written in exponential form.
2 2
A common mistake is to multiply the base times the exponent: 3 6 The correct answer is 3 = 3x3=9
3 3
Eg. Evaluate 100 100 = 100x100x100 = 1,000,000
4 4
Evaluate 0.2 0.2 =0.2x0.2x0.2x0.2=0.0016

Brackets
 Be careful of the position of the brackets when evaluating powers.
3
Eg. (3 x 2 ) = (3 x 2 x 2 x 2) = 24
3
(3 x 2) = (3 x 2) x (3 x 2) x (3 x 2) = 6 x 6 x 6 = 216
2 2
Practice From the textbook: Unit 22, p. 109, odds Powers, using formulas: d = CM and P = I R
1. Evaluate the following powers:
3 2 3 6 2
a) 3 b) 6 c) 0.1 f) 2 g) (2 x 3 )

RADICALS OR ROOTS:
Roots are the opposite of powers. Roots show you the power and ask you to find the base.
 The square root or second root sign means: find the factor, that when taken twice, multiplies to be the number under the root
sign.
2
Eg. √ √ It is opposite to the question 5 =25

 The cubed root or third root sign means: find the factor, that when taken three times multiplies to be the number under the
root sign.
3
Eg. √ √ It is opposite to the question 3 =27

Eg. √ √

√ √

Practice: From the textbook: Unit 23, p. 115, odds Evaluating roots
Unit 24, p. 118, odds Combined Operations with Powers and Roots
2. Evaluate the following roots
a) √ b) √ c) √ d) √

3. Use a calculator to evaluate the following roots. Round answers to the nearest hundredth:
a) √ b) √ c) √ d) √

Answers: 1) a) 27, b) 36, c) 0.001, f) 64, g) 18 2) a) 5, b) 3, c) 8, d) 5, 3) a)7.75, b) 1.12, c) 5.10, d) 4.64

WRITING DECIMALS AS NEAREST FRACTIONAL EQUIVALENTS WITH A GIVEN DENOMINATOR:
 It is often necessary to convert measurements in decimals and sometimes percents to their nearest fractional equivalent on the
Imperial scale.

METHOD 1: MULTIPLYING BY THE REQUIRED DENOMINATOR

Eg. Express 6.825 to the nearest equivalent fraction with a denominator of 64.

1. Convert to decimals. The whole number, 6, goes directly into the answer.
2. Multiply the decimal part of the measurement by the required denominator:
3. Round to the nearest whole number. This is the numerator of the final answer: ̇
Final Answer: ̇

How Does This Shortcut Work?

 Multiplying or dividing any number by 1 does not change its size.
 Any fraction, with the same numerator and denominator, is equal to 1.
So multiplying 0.825 by 1 can be written as: ̇

METHOD 2: FRACTIONAL EQUIVALENT TABLES

DECIMAL & FRACTIONAL EQUIVALENTS
Decimal Fraction Low High
Various tables are available to help convert decimals and percents to fractions. (inch) (Inch) Limit Limit
0.00000 0 0.00000 0.03124
Some tables, like the one shown, give lower and upper limits for your decimal to 0.06250 1/16 0.03125 0.09374
fall between, in order to be closest to the fraction shown. 0.12500 1/8 0.09375 0.15624
0.18750 3/16 0.15625 0.21874
Other tables, like Figure 3-34, show only the exact decimal that each fraction
0.25000 1/4 0.21875 0.28124
equals. You must then analyze the decimals to find which one is closest to the
decimal you are converting. 0.31250 5/16 0.28125 0.34374
0.37500 3/8 0.34375 0.40624
0.43750 7/16 0.40625 0.46874
0.50000 1/2 0.46875 0.53124
th
Eg. Convert 15.586 to the nearest 16 of an inch. 0.56250 9/16 0.53125 0.59374
0.62500 5/8 0.59375 0.65624
 Focus on the decimal part only: 0.586
0.68750 11/16 0.65625 0.71874
 Find the appropriate row in the table:
o 0.586 lies between 0.53125 and 0.59374 0.75000 3/4 0.71875 0.78124
 Read the fractional equivalent from the table 0.586 ̇
0.81250 13/16 0.78125 0.84374
0.87500 7/8 0.84375 0.90624
 Final Answer: ̇
0.93750 15/16 0.90625 0.96874
1.00000 1 0.96875 1.03124

Practice:
1. Convert the following measurements to the nearest fractional equivalent with a denominator of 8.
a) 0.58” b) 14.2” c) 43.908” d) 125.425”
nd
2. Express the following measurements to the nearest 32 of an inch.
a) 0.65” b) 0.905” c) 25.28” d) 1.337”

3. Use the table to express the following decimals to their nearest fractional equivalent:
a) 0.79 b) 8.47 c) 1.02 d) 12.4

Answers: 1 a)5/8, b) 14 2/8 (or 14¼), c) 43 7/8, d) 125 3/8, 2) a) 21/32, b) 29/32, c) 25 9/32, d) 1 11/32, 3) a) 13/16, b) 8 ½ , c) 1, d) 12 3/8