Law of Exponents

An exponent tells how many the base, a number or variable, is multiplied by itself:

2^3= 2*2*2= 8.

If you have a number to a negative exponent, you write the reciprocal of the number, the exponent is changed to a positive:

2^-3= 1/2^3= 1/8

If you multiply an exponent by an exponent, you add the exponents:

2^3+2^2=25

If a number has an exponent which is 0, it is always equal to one:

2^0=1

If there are numbers with exponents inside parenthesis, and an exponent outside the parenthesis, add the exponents:

(2^2+4^5+3^7)^2= 2^4+4^7+3^9

If you are writing in scientific notation, the number of the exponent next to the 10 is the number of places you move the decimal to the right (positive exponent) and left (negative exponent):

2*10^2=200
2*10^-2=.02