Page 172 - ABCTE Study Guide_Neat

Exponents Rule!

No, wait, that should be exponent rules. This section is filled with all the rules you need to know for
dealing with numerical exponents.

First, let's review the terminology. Consider:

5
Two is the base. Five is the exponent. The whole thing (2 ) is called a power.

We'll start with the basic rules first.

Basic Rules of Exponents

Basic Rules of Exponents

Rule Example

1
Raising to the First Power For any non-zero 6 = 6
1
number a,a = a.
For any non-zero
0
0
Raising to the Zero Power number a,a = 1, by 6 = 1
definition.

For any non-zero
-n
Negative Exponents number aand integer n, a =
n
1/a .

Here is one for you to practice on your own.

Question

Write the following expression with positive exponents:

A

B

C

D