Exponent

An exponent is a number with a base or bottom number and the exponent, how many times to multiply the base. For example: 7⁴ is 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 = 2401. Exponents get bigger and bigger. However, negative exponents deal with division, not multiplication. In powers of 10, the exponent really tells you how many zeroes are in that number like 10³ is 1000. 1000 has 3 zeroes. Negative exponents for powers of 10 represent a decimal like 10^-3 is 0.001 which is the reciprocal of 1000. So negative exponents have the reciprocal of positive ones when with powers of 10.

This article is issued from Vikidia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.