POWERS
Engr. Annalyn D. Soria
Lecturer
Raising a number to a power
The arithmetic operation of raising a number to a power is devised from
repetitive multiplication. Powers are used to describe the result of repeatedly
multiplying a number by itself.
For example:
10 x 10 x 10 x 10 = 104 that is, 4 number 10s multiplied together
The number that is successively multiplied by itself is called the base. A small
raised number called exponent/index follows the base and indicates the number
of times the base is to be multiplied.
Here the number 4 is the power (index) and 10 is the base.
The laws of powers
The laws of powers are contained within the following set of rules:
1. Power unity
Any number raised to the power 1 equals itself.
Example: 31 = 3
Zero Power
1 raised to anything
2. Multiplication of numbers and the addition of powers
If two numbers are each written as a given base raised to some power, then
the product of the two numbers is equal to the same base raised to the sum
of the powers.
3. Division of numbers and the subtraction of powers
If two numbers are each written as a given base raised to some power, then
the quotient of the two numbers is equal to the same base raised to the
difference of the powers.
For example:
4. Power zero
Any number raised to the power 0 equals unity. For example:
5. Negative powers
A number raised to a negative power denotes the reciprocal.
6. Multiplication of powers
If a number is written as a given base raised to some power, then that
number raised to a further power is equal to the base raised to the product of
the powers.
Fractional powers and roots
A fractional exponent is an alternate notation for expressing powers and
roots together.
Additional Examples:
Refer to the module (page: 17-chapter
quiz) for the assignment. Kindly passed
your assignment with solutions using my
email address. (you can encode it or by
writing it down and take a photo of which).
Due today.
Quiz - continuation