Exponents

Definition: Exponents is the number that tells how many times the base is used as a factor. You can use exponents to simplify problems, its just a simple tool to turn 5X5X5X5X5X5 into 5^6.

-example

media type="custom" key="3996051"Exponents (online video) 6/18/09


 * **Factors** || **Product of Factors** || **Description** ||
 * 2 x 2 = || 4 || 2 is a factor 2 times ||
 * 2 x 2 x 2 = || 8 || 2 is a factor 3 times ||
 * 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = || 16 || 2 is a factor 4 times ||
 * 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = || 32 || 2 is a factor 5 times ||
 * 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = || 64 || 2 is a factor 6 times ||
 * 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = || 128 || 2 is a factor 7 times ||
 * 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = || 256 || 2 is a factor 8 times ||

Writing 2 as a factor one million times would be a very time-consuming and tedious task. A better way to approach this is to use **exponents**. Exponential notation is an easier way to write a number as a product of many factors. For example, to write 2 as a factor one million times, the base is 2, and the exponent is 1,000,000. We write this number in exponential form as follows:
 * Base Exponent || [[image:http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol3/images/tab.gif width="10" height="1" caption=" "]] || The //exponent// tells us how many times the //base// is used as a factor. ||
 * **2** || 1,000,000 || [[image:http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol3/images/tab.gif width="15" height="1" caption=" "]] || read as //two raised to the millionth power// ||





media type="custom" key="4001855" media type="custom" key="4001867"

For more infomation or help go to...[] [|www.brainpop.com]