Exponents are a shorthand way of telling us that a number is multiplied by itself.
The number that is multiplied by itself is called the base. The base is the larger number on the left.
The smaller number on the right tells us how many times the number is multiplied by itself. It is called the exponent, or power.
We will usually read it as (base) to the power of (exponent), OR (base) to the (exponent) power.
For example, in the expression
4 is the base, while 3 is the exponent.
The exponent tells us the number of times the base is to be multiplied by itself.
In our example, 4 (the base) is multiplied by itself 3 times (the exponent):
We can call this 4 to the power of 3, or 4 to the third power.
Extra: Since the second and third powers are so common, we have special, short names for them - squared and cubed.
can be called simply 4 squared.
can be called simply 4 cubed.
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