The index of a number says how many times to use the number in a multiplication.

It is written as a small number to the right and above the base number.

In this example: 82 = 8 × 8 = 64

The plural of index is indices.

(Other names for index are exponent or power.)

The exponent of a number says how many times to use the number in a multiplication.

In 82 the "2" says to use 8 twice in a multiplication,

so 82 = 8 × 8 = 64

In words: 82 could be called "8 to the power 2" or "8 to the second power", or simply "8 squared"

Exponents are also called Powers or Indices.

Some more examples:

Example: 53 = 5 × 5 × 5 = 125

 In words: 53 could be called "5 to the third power", "5 to the power 3" or simply "5 cubed"

Example: 24 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16

 In words: 24 could be called "2 to the fourth power" or "2 to the power 4" or simply "2 to
the 4th"

Exponents make it easier to write and use many multiplications

Example: 96 is easier to write and read than 9 × 9 × 9 × 9 × 9 × 9

In General
So in general:

an tells you to multiply a by itself,

so there are n of those a's:

Negative Exponents
Negative? What could be the opposite of multiplying?

Dividing!

A negative exponent means how many times to divide one by the number.

Example: 8-1 = 1 ÷ 8 = 0.125

You can have many divides:

Example: 5-3 = 1 ÷ 5 ÷ 5 ÷ 5 = 0.008

But that can be done an easier way:

5-3 could also be calculated like:

1 ÷ (5 × 5 × 5) = 1/53 = 1/125 = 0.008

In General

That last example showed an easier way to handle negative exponents:

 Calculate the positive exponent (an)

 Then take the Reciprocal (i.e. 1/an)

More Examples:

Negative Exponent Reciprocal of Positive Exponent Answer

4-2 = 1 / 42 = 1/16 = 0.0625

10-3 = 1 / 103 = 1/1,000 = 0.001

(-2)-3 = 1 / (-2)3 = 1/(-8) = -0.125

What if the Exponent is 1, or 0?

1 If the exponent is 1, then you just have the number itself (example 91 = 9)

0 If the exponent is 0, then you get 1 (example 90 = 1)

But what about 00 ? It could be either 1 or 0, and so people say it is "indeterminate".

Be Careful About Grouping
To avoid confusion, use parentheses ( ) in cases like this:

With ( ) : (-2)2 = (-2) × (-2) = 4

Without ( ) : -22 = -(22) = - (2 × 2) = -4

With ( ) : (ab)2 = ab × ab

Without ( ) : ab2 = a × (b)2 = a × b × b

Laws of indices and Zero Index Rule

 First Law of Indices

When expressions written in index form and having the same base are multiplied, the indices are
added together.

Examples:
a) 72 x 73 b) 33 x 35

c) a2 x a5 d) p x p4

e) 53 x 54 f) b7 x b5

g) x2y3 x x3y4 h) 2x3y2 x 3xy4

 Second Law of Indices
When expressions written in index form and having the same non-zero base are divided, the
indices are subtracted.

Examples:
27 b) m8 ÷ m5
a) 2
2

8𝑎4 16𝑝7
c) d)
2 8𝑝2

𝑎5 𝑏 6
e)
𝑎4 𝑏 3

 Zero Index Rule

When any non-zero expression is raised to the power of zero, the answer is equal to 1.

Examples:
a) m0 b) 4a0
 Third Law of Indices
When an expression written in index form is raised to another index, the indices are multiplied.

Examples:
a) (34)3 b) (y6)5

c) (a3)2 x a5 d) b10 ÷ (b2)5

e) (m4)2 x (m2)3 (𝑝3 )4

f)
(𝑝2 )5
 Fourth Law of Indices

(a x b)n = an x bn for any unknowns a, b and n

Examples:
a) (p2 x p)3 b) (2a2b)3

c) (2xy)0 d) (5a3b2)0

e) (ab2)3 x a f) (h2 k3)4 ÷ k5

g) (3mn)3 x (-8m5n3)2 h) (-3x8y5)3 ÷ (9x5y3)2

 Fifth Law of Indices

𝑎 𝑛 𝑎𝑛
( ) = for any unknowns a, b and n
𝑏 𝑏𝑛
Examples:
1 2 𝑚 5
a) ( ) b) ( )
3 𝑛

3
𝑎2
c) ( )
𝑏
 Sixth Law of Indices (Negative Indices)

−𝒏 𝟏
𝒂 = for all unknowns a and n (a ≠ 0)
𝒂𝒏
Examples:
a) 𝑎−5 b) 2𝑏 −5

c) 𝑡 −4 × 𝑡 3 d) 𝑝4 ÷ 𝑝9

e) 3(𝑥 2 )−3 f) (3𝑥 2 )−3

2 −2
g) ( )
3
 Fractional Indices

a
power

root

Examples:
3 1
a) √𝑝2 b) 273

2
c) 125 3 d) √163

1 1
(𝑥 6 )2
1 3 f)
e) ( )
8

1
3 4
g) (8𝑎 𝑏 )3
Solving Equations Involving Indices

Examples:
a) If 𝑏 4 = 81, find the value of b b) If 2𝑚 = 32, find the value of m

1
c) If 3𝑛 = , find the value of n d) If 9𝑢 = 34 , find the value of u
81

e) If 23 × 42 = 2𝑣 , find the value of v f) If 315 ÷ 27 = 3𝑤 , find the value of w

1
g) If 𝑎 2 = 3, find the value of a h) If 7𝑟 = √343, find the value of r

1
i) If 4𝑛 = , find the value of n j) If 𝑎 −2 = 4, find the value of a
8
 1
l)
k) If 𝑏 −2 = 6, find the value of b
 Standard Form

Standard form is a way of writing down very large or very small numbers easily.

A number can be written in standard form by expressing it in the form

integer
𝐴 × 10𝑛
𝟏 ≤ 𝑨 < 𝟏𝟎

‘A’ must be greater than or equal to 1,

and must be less than 10

Examples:

Express the following numbers which are in standard form as an integer or a decimal.

a) 6.34 × 105 b) 5.0 × 101 c) 7.89 × 10−2

Express each of the following numbers in standard form.

a) 36.2 b) 56100 c) 7

Express each of the following numbers in standard form.

a) 0.008 b) 0.000 041 3

Express each of the following in standard form, giving your answers correct to 3 significant figures.

a) 112 358 b) 1 321.34 c) 0.055 89 d) 1.442 33 x 104

Evaluate each of the following, giving your answers in standard form.

a) 1.2 x 104 x 4 x 106 b) (5.6 x 107) ÷ (8 x 109)

6.91 ×104
6.91 b) Hence, estimate the value of
a) Estimate the value of correct to 1 sig fig. 3.03×10−1
3.03
correct to 1 sig.fig

c) Estimate the value of √8.76, correct to 1 sig d) Hence, estimate the value of √8.76 × 104
fig. correct to 1 sig.fig
 a) 5.34 x 104 + 7.31 x 104 b) 9.25 x 10-5 – 8.72 x 10-5

c) 1.6 x 10-2 + 3.5 x 10-1 d) 2.9 x 106 – 2.3 x 104

Notes: To add and subtract in std.form,

Change the std form to ordinary no.  perform the addn or subn then convert back to std form.
OR
1st – make sure 10n must be equal.
2nd – if they’re different, choose the one with the lowest index, add the index with a number to make them equal.
3rd – move the decimal to the LEFT to a number places equal to the number you have added to the index.
4th - add/subtract A without changing the 10n.
Simultaneous equations

Simultaneous equations are two equations with two unknowns. They are called simultaneous because they
must both be solved at the same time.

Three commonly used methods to solve Simultaneous Equations are:

1) Elimination method
2) Substitution method
3) Graphical method
Elimination Method (Eliminate means ‘to get rid of’)

Example 1: Notes:

3x - 2y = 10 1st : eliminate the unknown with the same coefficient.

2nd : make sure the signs are opposite
x + 2y = 6 3rd: if the signs are equal, change the sign of one
equation (choose any of the two equations).
Working: 4th: check your answer.

Example 2: Notes:

4x + y = 7 1st : eliminate the unknown with the same coefficient.

2nd : make sure the signs are opposite
3x + y = 5 3rd: if the signs are equal, change the sign of one
equation (choose any of the two equations).
Working: 4th: check your answer.
Example 3: Notes:

1st: If none of the unknowns are having the same

3x + 2y = 7
coefficient, multiply one or both equations with a
2x – 3y = - 4 suitable number to make the coefficient of the
Working: chosen unknown to be equal.
nd
2 : make sure the signs are opposite.
3rd: if the signs are equal, change the sign of one
equation (choose any of the two equations).
4th: check your answer.

Example 2: Notes:

x + 2y = 8 1st: If none of the unknowns are having the same

coefficient, multiply one or both equations with a
2x + 3y = 14 suitable number to make the coefficient of the
chosen unknown to be equal.
Working: nd
2 : make sure the signs are opposite.
3rd: if the signs are equal, change the sign of one
equation (choose any of the two equations).
4th: check your answer.
Substitution Method - is useful when at least one equation is given in the form ‘y = …’ or ‘x = …’.

Example 1: Notes:

3x + 5y = 1 1st: Substitute y into the first equation.

2nd: Solve the equation to find the value of x.
y = 2x -5 3rd: use the value of x to find the value of y using the
second equation.
Working: 4th: check your answer.

Example 2: Notes:

1st: Substitute x into the second equation.

x = y + 1
2nd: Solve the equation to find the value of y.
2x + 3y = 5 3rd: use the value of y to find the value of x using the
first equation.
Working: 4th: check your answer.
Example 3:

A mother is three times as old as her son. Five years ago she was four times as old as her son. How old
are they now?

Solution:

Example 4*:

A grocer wants to mix a type of coffee, A which costs $20 a kilogram with another type B which costs
$15 a kilogram to obtain 10 kilograms of mixture which is to be sold at $16 a kilogram. What quantity of
each must he take?

Solution:

Example 5:

The sum of two numbers is 15 and their difference is 3. What are the two numbers?

Solution:
Graphical method

1st: draw the table of values for both equations.

2nd: choose any value for x. Choose at least 3 values to make sure that there is no error.
3rd: fill in the values y.
4th: plot the graph
5th: the point of intersection of the two graphs representing the pair of simultaneous linear eqns is its
solution.
y

Point of intersection
Soln for y value

x
Soln for x value

Notes: if the two lines are parallel to each other (no intersection point),  NO SOLUTION
y

if the two lines overlap each other completely, INFINITE SOLUTION

y