Studyfin
✨ Sign up free
Hey there! Today we are going to discover a math superpower: exponents, which let us write big multiplication problems in a tiny space!
Imagine you want to multiply the same number over and over again, like 2 times 2 times 2 times 2. Writing that out takes a lot of time and space!
That is where exponents come to the rescue! An exponent is a shorthand way of showing repeated multiplication. It has two parts: a big base number on the bottom, and a tiny exponent floating up high.
The big base number tells us what number we are multiplying. The tiny exponent tells us how many of those base numbers to multiply together. So, 5 to the power of 3 means we multiply three 5s together: 5 x 5 x 5!
Evaluate the exponential expression: 3 to the power of 4 (written as 3⁴).
- Identify the base. The base is 3, which is the number we will multiply.
- Identify the exponent. The exponent is 4, which tells us to multiply four of the bases together.
- Write out the expanded multiplication: 3 × 3 × 3 × 3.
- Multiply the first two numbers: 3 × 3 = 9. Now our problem is 9 × 3 × 3.
- Multiply the next number: 9 × 3 = 27. Now our problem is 27 × 3.
- Complete the final multiplication: 27 × 3 = 81. So, 3⁴ = 81!