Mathematical Problem Solving/Exponents and Logarithms
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Integer Exponents[edit | edit source]
It is often useful to repeatedly add a number to itself. For example, one might want to run around a track of length 400 five times. We write instead of . Multiplication can be said to be repeated addition: i.e. where is added five times. Just as we have shorthand for repeated addition, we can describe repeated multiplication. We write instead of . In fact we will now define exponentiation for integer exponents. If is an integer, then
When referring to the previous expression we would say is the base and is the exponent or power.
Examples[edit | edit source]
Evaluate .
Solution: The first term is the product of five 2's and six 2's, giving us 11 2's.
Evaluate .