Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (2024)

Review the common properties of exponents that allow us to rewrite powers in different ways. For example, x²⋅x³ can be written as x⁵.

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  • janana

    7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to janana's post “I'm confused by the fact ...”

    I'm confused by the fact that all exponents to the 0th power equals 1. Why is this? Shouldn't the answer be zero instead?

    (37 votes)

    • Hosannah H

      7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to Hosannah H's post “When you look at it, not ...”

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (4)

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (5)

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (6)

      When you look at it, not really. Let's pick a small number: 2
      2 to the power of 4=16
      2 to the power of 3=8
      2 to the power of 2=4
      2 to the power of 1=2
      Now when you look at these numbers, you should notice a pattern. 8/2=4, and 4/2=2. Now 2 divided by 2 would give us the answer to 2 to the power of 0, which is equal to 1.

      Hope that you understand now. Good luck!!

      (181 votes)

  • 25jevel289

    4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to 25jevel289's post “who added letters in math...”

    who added letters in math i would like to have a conversation with them please

    (59 votes)

    • Mikeala

      a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Mikeala's post “François Viète is the per...”

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (10)

      François Viète is the person you should speak to about adding numbers to math.
      At the end of the 16th century, François Viète introduced the idea of representing known and unknown numbers by letters, nowadays called variables, and the idea of computing with them as if they were numbers—in order to obtain the result by a simple replacement.

      (23 votes)

  • Gabriel Zubovsky

    6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Gabriel Zubovsky's post “What's 0 to the 0th power...”

    What's 0 to the 0th power ?

    (33 votes)

    • Lovish Garg

      3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to Lovish Garg's post “Well it will be undefined...”

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (14)

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (15)

      Well it will be undefined. See this case
      2^3=2*2*2 =8
      2^2=2*2 =4
      2^1=2 =2
      2^0=1
      The reason we get 2^0 is because for every 2^{n-1}, we are dividing the 2^n by 2, for example to get value of 2^0, we are dividing the 2^1=2 by the 2. The result is therefor 1.

      But in case of 0, we will be dividing the 0 by the 0. Because 0^1=0 and then we will be diving by our base (which is 0), the result will be 0/0, which is undefined.
      I hope you got my point.
      Have a nice day.

      (33 votes)

  • izayah

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to izayah's post “i wish we can go back to ...”

    i wish we can go back to 1+1 and 2+2

    (33 votes)

    • RAIDA YESSIN

      a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to RAIDA YESSIN's post “If you still using them d...”

      If you still using them don’t worry but to survive in this digital era and going to Mars you will need those more complicated mathematical expressions and equations to solve your everyday problems and you may solve one of the world problems one day you never know. My humble advice to anyone who is taking mathematics is to start from beginning and build up at your own pace so you can perceive it better and have as many examples as possible also research what you can't understand and try to solve as many problems as you can

      (8 votes)

  • Victoria563

    4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to Victoria563's post “Can an exponent have an e...”

    Can an exponent have an exponent?

    (21 votes)

    • THE BETTER WINCHESTER

      3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to THE BETTER WINCHESTER's post “Of course! It's mostly se...”

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (22)

      Of course! It's mostly seen in this form, though: (4^2)^3 where there is one exponent inside the parenthesis then outside the parenthesis there's another exponent, which applies to all parts inside the parenthesis, including the exponent inside.

      (24 votes)

  • kabeeralimuhammad11

    a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to kabeeralimuhammad11's post “I am using Khan Academy f...”

    I am using Khan Academy first time. Khan Academy teaches very Amazingly.

    (32 votes)

  • hyost

    a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to hyost's post “this is way to easy! I ha...”

    this is way to easy! I have alr learned this and my mamma is making me do this :(

    (17 votes)

  • TheJester(lauren)

    a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to TheJester(lauren)'s post “Why do we have to learn a...”

    Why do we have to learn all of this??

    (6 votes)

    • Jasmine K

      a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Jasmine K's post “You never know when this ...”

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (30)

      You never know when this might come up in life. Sometimes, it forms the border between getting accepted into your college, or getting a good grade on a test.

      Wish you luck on whatever you're learning!

      (15 votes)

  • dsnider

    7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to dsnider's post “Is there an answer to x^3...”

    Is there an answer to x^3 without "x" being part of the answer?

    (5 votes)

    • Kim Seidel

      7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to Kim Seidel's post “The only way you can get ...”

      Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (34)

      The only way you can get an answer for x^3 without have "x" be part of the answer is if you know the value of "x". For example, if someone says x=4, then we can find x^3.
      x^3 = 4^3 = 64. Otherwise, you are stuck with the "x".

      (15 votes)

  • Montilla, Andrea

    4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to Montilla, Andrea's post “can an exponent have an e...”

    can an exponent have an exponent

    (6 votes)

    • 50024

      3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to 50024's post “Of course! It's mostly se...”

      Of course! It's mostly seen in this form, though: (4^2)^3 where there is one exponent inside the parenthesis then outside the parenthesis there's another exponent, which applies to all parts inside the parenthesis, including the exponent inside.

      (6 votes)

Exponent properties review (article) | Khan Academy (2024)

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