3/2/23, 7:33 AM Negative Exponents

Negative Exponents
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Exponents are also called Powers or Indices

Let us first look at what an "exponent" is:

exponent
(or index, The exponent of a number says how many times to use
or power) the number in a multiplication.
 

In this example: 82 = 8 × 8 = 64
base
In words: 82 can be called "8 to the second power", "8 to the power 2"
or simply "8 squared"

Example: 53 = 5 × 5 × 5 = 125

In words: 53 can be called "5 to the third power", "5 to the power 3" or simply "5
cubed"

In general:

an tells you to use a in a multiplication n times:  

But those are positive exponents, what about something like:

8-2

That exponent is negative ... what does it mean?

Negative Exponents
Negative? What could be the opposite of multiplying? Dividing!

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3/2/23, 7:33 AM Negative Exponents

Dividing is the inverse (opposite) of Multiplying.

A negative exponent means how many times to divide by the number.

Example: 8-1 = 1 ÷ 8 = 1/8 = 0.125

Or many divides:

Example: 5-3 = 1 ÷ 5 ÷ 5 ÷ 5 = 0.008

But that can be done an easier way:

5-3 could also be calculated like:

1 ÷ (5 × 5 × 5) = 1/53 = 1/125 = 0.008

That last example showed an easier way to handle negative exponents:

Calculate the positive exponent (an)

Then take the Reciprocal (i.e. 1/an)

To change the sign (plus to minus, or minus to plus) of the exponent,

use the Reciprocal (i.e. 1/an)

So, what about 8-2 ?

Example: 8-2 = 1 ÷ 8 ÷ 8 = 1/82 = 1/64 = 0.015625

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3/2/23, 7:33 AM Negative Exponents

More Examples:

Reciprocal of
Negative Exponent     Answer
Positive Exponent

4-2 = 1 / 42 = 1/16 = 0.0625

10-3 = 1 / 103 = 1/1,000 = 0.001

It All Makes Sense

My favorite method is to start with "1" and then multiply or divide as many times as
the exponent says, then you will get the right answer, for example:

Example: Powers of 5

  .. etc..  

52 1×5×5 25
5x Larger
5x Smaller
51 1×5 5

50 1 1

5-1 1÷5 0.2

5-2 1÷5÷5 0.04

  .. etc..  

If you look at that table, you will see that positive, zero or negative exponents are
really part of the same (fairly simple) pattern.

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6

Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10

Copyright © 2022 Rod Pierce

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