Raise any number to any power, including negative powers (which give a reciprocal) and fraction powers (which give a root).
A whole-number exponent means repeated multiplication of the base.
A negative exponent gives the reciprocal, so 2⁻² is 1 ÷ 4 = 0.25.
A fractional exponent gives a root, so 9^0.5 is the square root of 9.
Any non-zero number raised to the power 0 equals 1.
Power: bⁿ = b × b × … n times
Negative exponent: b⁻ⁿ = 1 ÷ bⁿ
Fractional exponent: b^(1/n) = the nth root of b
Calculating 2 to the power of 10.
Base: 2
Exponent: 10
Multiply 2 by itself ten times
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024
Answer: 2¹⁰ = 1,024
Why is anything to the power of 0 equal to 1?
Because dividing powers subtracts the exponents: 2³ ÷ 2³ = 2⁰. Anything divided by itself equals 1, so 2⁰ must also equal 1. The one exception is 0⁰, which is left undefined.
What does a fractional exponent mean?
It means a root. b^(1/2) is the square root, b^(1/3) is the cube root, and b^(2/3) means the cube root, squared.