(Extraordinary)2 = exponent*exponent

In ancient Greece the entrance of Plato’s academy have quite an

interesting warning, yes that a WARNING, it states that no ignorant of

mathematics are allowed in. Let be this the case and no one of us will be

allowed there if we have no upper hand in seeing exponent as to a mere

mathematics method but a method that is live saving. By lifesaving I don’t

mean someone on deathbed with a pack of exponent glucose hanging on

him. Well the case can be true if you consider the amount of fluid that the

nurse gives him and reports it to the doctor saying she gave him a pack of

1, 500, 000 and the doctor responds by saying she did very well with the

pack of 1, 500, 000 ml of fluid and he would be needing 1, 200, 000 later

on and the nurse responds by saying she will make sure he gets the exact

amount of 1, 200, 000 later on and no less than 1, 200, 000.. That would

be such a long conversation to have while reciting the numbers won’t it?

So how to save this energy of the doctor, nurse and the patient? The

answer lies in no les but our great exponents!

How exponents are used?

Sometimes we come across that are too big or too small that human mind

cannot process it easily and cannot grasp on the main concept of how big

or small that number actually is. Thus exponent is the way of writing the

number in an easy and understandable way to know the exact amount. For

instance, 2.34 x 10^2 is equal to 2.3400.

Any number that is more than hundred have an exponential form. These

are used for various measurements for example, in scientific notation,

engineering notation, logarithm and Richter scale etc.

How exponents change the way of reading a number?

It is said that a picture is more likely to be remembered than a piece of

writing. Even though both convey the same message however the painting

is more likely to gain the attention and is more likely to depict the

meaning in a useful way. Same is the case with exponents. Exponent is the

painting whereas the long numbers are the expository writings. Exponents

tend to make the meaning more precise to read and understand it in a far

better way than a number that have tens of zero to be counted one by one.

Moreover, exponents give people the bigger picture of how big the number

is. Let’s say there is a number. 700, 000, 000 and 7 x 10^8. Well for sure
 the first look of 700, 000, 000 looks quite long and big but when the

power of 8 is looked at, it clearly depicts that the number 7 is 8

thousand times bigger. Now saying 8 thousand times sounds way

bigger than the long number we see. Every time we will increase a

zero thus the power will increase and we will see a thousand times

increase in the number. From 7 x10^8 to 7 x10^9 there is the clear

distinction of increase of a thousand times on the number whereas

adding a zero the number 7,000, 000,000 will not really show much

of a difference to a reader unless they start counting the zeros one

by one.

700, 000, 000 7 x10^8

7, 000, 000, 000 7 x10^9

Numbers can be read wrong!

If we change the number from 700, 000, 000 to 900, 000, 000 it is clear

distinction that the latter is a huge number however, 9,000, 000. there is
no clear distinction now. Again going for every zero is a solution but a

long and tiring one however it is impossible to know of the difference in

one go if we have no exponents that actually depict the difference. It is

not how big the co efficient is but how big the number of zeros are since

they determine the amount.

700, 000, 000 7 x 10^8

95, 000, 000 95 x 10^6

It is clear from the exponents that 7 x10^8 is a huge amount than 9 x10^6.

Be careful or you could fall for scams if you are unaware of exponents and

go for the larger number easily than the zeros!

Moreover the numbers can be read wrong again if you are unaware of

differentiating between the numbers that have a slight difference in the

way they are written. Let’s take the same example as before of the nurse

giving the patient fluid. Let’s imagine the doctor instructed the nurse to

give fluid up to 1, 200, 000, 000 however the she jotted down the amount

of 12, 000, 000. Now we can clearly see the disaster the patient is about

to endure. Instead of a million ml dose the patient is about to get a ten

million one. It is due the reason how the two lookalike but are different in
amount. That’s why exponent is a clear need in our daily lives. If the

doctor and nurse have rather talked in terms of exponents it would not

have been a problem.

Conclusion:

Humans have always opted for shortcuts which is the reason they

have evolved over time. Exponents also came into our lives due to the

very reason and today is used by people for their ease. The concept of

exponent may seem tricky when heard for the first time but when

understood and used it can save us a lot of time and efforts not forgetting

to mention how it saves us from disasters. We can easily differentiate

between huge numbers rather than sitting down and counting zeros. It

shows us clear distinction between huge numbers irrespective of which

have the larger co efficient. Thus exponents have lead us to different

scales for our ease of differentiating between numbers.

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