Exponents Discovery

Monday, October 07, 2013 9:02 AM

Part 1: Powers of Constants

1. In One Note, type a paragraph explaining what you have learned. Paragraph About What I Learned:
What I learned from reading over this website about powers and exponents is that you have to understand repeated multiplication first before you can start to understand powers, exponents, and bases. Repeated multiplication is when you multiply a number by itself, and exponents are a shortcut to this method. Numbers can be written in three forms - exponential form, expanded form, which is another name for repeated multiplication, and standard form. Exponential form is when you have a base, which is the bottom number of a power that indicates the factor being multiplied by itself, and an exponent, which is the elevated number that indicates how many times you are multiplying the base by itself (i.e. 5^7). Expanded form is the exact same concept as repeated multiplication, which is when you completely write out the number of times that you are multiplying the base by itself (i.e. 3^4 would be 3*3*3*3). Standard form is basically when you write what the base and the exponent equal, or what their value is (i.e. 6^3 would be 216). Something else that I learned from reading over this website is that there are many different ways to read exponents, for example, if you have 7^4, you can read this as the fourth power of seven, seven exponent four, or seven to the fourth power. One last concept that I learned from this website is that when variables are used in powers, you need a coefficient, which is a constant placed in front of the base. For example, if you have 5x^3, you would get 5 xxx. I found this website to be very helpful and I learned many things about exponents and powers.

2. What is a base? A base is the bottom number of a power and is the number that you are multiplying repeatedly by itself when there is an exponent. 3. What is a power? A power is the indicator of repeated multiplication of the same factor, and it has two components the base and the exponent. 4. What does a base and power (exponent) tell you to do? A base and a power tells you to repeatedly multiply the base by itself the number of times that the exponent tells you to.

5. What is a power a shortcut to?

A power is a shortcut to repeated multiplication.

6. How could you use geometry to describe squaring or cubing a number?

Introduction to Exponents Page 1

6. How could you use geometry to describe squaring or cubing a number? You can use geometry to describe squaring or cubing a number by using area/dimensions to represent an exponent.

Part 2: Negative and Positive Powers

Base 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Exponent Meaning 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 2*2*2*2 2*2*2 2*2 2*1 2*1/2 1/2*1 1/2*1/2 1/2*1/2*1/2 Value 16 8 4 2 1 1/2 1/4 1/8

1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2 1/16

1. Start with 2 to the first power. As you increase the exponent, what operation is happening to the base? As you increase the exponent, the operation that is happening to the base is multiplication. 2. Starting with the exponent of 4, as you decrease each exponent, what operation is happening to the base? As you decrease each exponent, the operation that is happening to the base is division. 3. Double check your table. Does the pattern work from 2^-4 to 2^4 as the exponent increases each time? The pattern does work from 2^-4 to 2^4 as the exponent increases each time.

4. Does the pattern work from 2^4 to 2^-4 as the exponent decreases each time?
The pattern does work from 2^4 to 2^-4 as the exponent decreases each
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The pattern does work from 2^4 to 2^-4 as the exponent decreases each time.

Part 3: Powers of Variables

Use constants to help you think through what happens with variables in the following list of questions.
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What do you get when you add x and x? You get 2x when you add x and x. What do you get when you subtract x from x? You get 0x or 0 when you subtract x from x. What do you get when you multiply x by x? You get x^2 when you multiply x by x. What do you get when you divide x by x? You get 1 when you divide x by x. What do you get when you multiply x by x by x? You get x^3 when you multiply x by x by x. What about x by x by x by x by x? You get x^5 when you multiply x by x by x by x by x. What do you get when you multiply x^2 by x? You get x^3 when you multiply x^2 by x. What about when you multiply x^2 by x^3? You get x^5 when you multiply x^2 by x^3. What about when you multiply x^4 by x^6? You get x^10 when you multiply x^4 by x^6. Come up with a rule that explains what happens when you multiply same bases. When you multiply the same bases, you add the exponents from both of the powers together. What about when you multiply x^4 by x^2? You get x^6 when you multiply x^4 by x^2. What do you get when you divide x^5 by x^3? You get x^2 when you divide x^5 by x^3. What about when you divide x^6 by x? You get x^5 when you divide x^6 by x. Come up with a rule that explains what happens when you divide same bases. When you divide the same bases, you subtract the exponent that is with the
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When you divide the same bases, you subtract the exponent that is with the second base from the exponent that is with the first base.
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What do you get when you square x^3? You get x^5 when you square x^3. What do you get when you square x^4? You get x^6 when you square x^4 What do you get when you cube x^2? You get x^5 when you cube x^2. What do you get when you raise x^3 to the fourth power? You get x^7 when you raise x^3 to the fourth power. What do you get when you raise x^2 to the fifth power? You get x^7 when you raise x^2 to the fifth power. Come up with a rule that explains what happens when you raise a base with an exponent by an exponent. When you raise a base with an exponent by an exponent, you add the number that represents the exponent to the exponent that is conjoined with the base.

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