Find the Exponent: Solving 1/a^□ = (1/a)×(1/a)×(1/a)×(1/a)×(1/a)×(1/a)

Question

Fill in the missing number:

1a=1a1a1a1a1a1a \frac{1}{a}^☐=\frac{1}{a}\cdot\frac{1}{a}\cdot\frac{1}{a}\cdot\frac{1}{a}\cdot\frac{1}{a}\cdot\frac{1}{a}

Video Solution

Solution Steps

00:00 Complete the missing number
00:03 Let's use the exponent formula
00:06 Any number (X) to the power of (N)
00:09 equals X multiplied by itself N times
00:17 Let's use this formula in our exercise
00:21 X is the number being multiplied
00:25 The number of multiplications equals the exponent (N)
00:30 And this is the solution to the question

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve this problem, we'll follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Identify the structure of the exponentiation in the problem.
  • Step 2: Count the number of terms multiplied on the right-hand side.
  • Step 3: Equate the number of terms to the exponent, thereby finding the missing number.

Now, let's work through each step:

Step 1: The problem provides the expression: 1a \frac{1}{a}^☐ on the left-hand side, and 1a1a1a1a1a1a\frac{1}{a} \cdot \frac{1}{a} \cdot \frac{1}{a} \cdot \frac{1}{a} \cdot \frac{1}{a} \cdot \frac{1}{a} on the right-hand side.

Step 2: Count the number of 1a\frac{1}{a} terms on the right. There are 6 terms.

Step 3: The property of exponents allows us to say (1a)\left(\frac{1}{a}\right)^☐ should equal to 1a\frac{1}{a} multiplied by itself 6 times. Thus, the exponent on the left, indicated by ☐, must match the count of the terms:

Therefore, the missing number for ☐ is 6 6 .

Answer

6