Introduction

In everyday life we usually read numbers in words such as one, ten, one hundred, one
thousand, one lakh, one crore, etc.

But in science and mathematics we often find very big numbers. For example, science tells
us that the mass of Earth is 5972190000000000000000000 kg. But this very big cannot be
read in simple words. To pronounce these types of big numbers we make use of exponents.

Exponent Meaning

Exponent is defined as the method of expressing large numbers in terms of powers.

That means, exponent refers to how many times a number multiplied by itself. For example,
6 is multiplied by itself 4 times, i.e. 6 × 6 × 6 × 6. This can be written as 64. Here, 4 is the
exponent and 6 is the base.

This can be read as 6 is raised to power 4.

Exponent Symbol

The symbol used for representing the exponent is ^. This symbol (^) is called a carrot.

For example, 4 raised to 2 can be written as 4^2 or 42. Thus, 4^2 = 4 × 4 = 16.

The below table shows the representation of a few numerical expressions using exponents.

Expression Exponent representation

9×9×9×9 94, Base = 9, Exponent = 4

7×7×7×7×7×7×7 77, Base = 7, Exponent = 7

Rules of Exponents With Examples

As discussed earlier, there are different laws or rules defined for exponents. The important
laws of exponents are given below:

● am×an = am+n
● am/an = am-n
● (am)n = amn
● an/bn = (a/b)n
● a0 = 1
● a-m = 1/am
● 𝑎1𝑛=𝑎𝑛

Product With the Same Bases

As per this law, for any non-zero term a,

● am×an = am+n

where m and n are real numbers.

Example 1: What is the simplification of 55 × 51 ?

Solution: 55 × 51 = 55+1 = 56

Example 2: What is the simplification of (−6)-4 × (−6)-7?

Solution: (−6)-4 × (−6)-7 = (-6)-4-7 = (-6)-11

Quotient with Same Bases

As per this rule,

● am/an = am-n

where a is a non-zero term and m and n are integers.

Example 3: Find the value when 10-5 is divided by 10-3.

Solution: As per the question;

10-5/10-3

= 10-5-(-)3

= 10-5+3

= 10-2

= 1/100

Power Raised to a Power

According to this law, if ‘a’ is the base, then the power raised to the power of base ‘a’ gives
the product of the powers raised to the base ‘a’, such as;

● (am)n = amn
where a is a non-zero term and m and n are integers.

Example 4: Express 83 as a power with base 2.

Solution: We have, 2×2×2 = 8 = 23

Therefore, 83= (23)3 = 29

Product to a Power

As per this rule, for two or more different bases, if the power is same, then;

● an bn = (ab)n

where a is a non-zero term and n is the integer.

Example 5: Simplify and write the exponential form of: 1/8 x 5-3

Solution: We can write, 1/8 = 2-3

Therefore, 2-3 x 5-3 = (2 × 5)-3 = 10-3

Quotient to a Power

As per this law, the fraction of two different bases with the same power is represented as;

● an/bn = (a/b)n

where a and b are non-zero terms and n is an integer.

Example 6: Simplify the expression and find the value:153/53

Solution: We can write the given expression as;

Zero Power

According to this rule, when the power of any integer is zero, then its value is equal to 1,
such as;

a0 = 1

where ‘a’ is any non-zero term.

Example 7: What is the value of 50 + 22 + 40 + 71 – 31 ?

Solution: 50 + 22 + 40 + 71 – 31 = 1+4+1+7-3= 10

Negative Exponent Rule

According to this rule, if the exponent is negative, we can change the exponent into positive
by writing the same value in the denominator and the numerator holds the value 1.

The negative exponent rule is given as:

a-m = 1/am

Example 8:

Find the value of 2-2

Solution:

Here, the exponent is a negative value (i.e., -2)

2-2 = 1/22

2-2 = 1/4

In other words, we can say that, if “a” is a non-zero number or non-zero rational number, we
can say that a-m is the reciprocal of am.

Fractional Exponent Rule

The fractional exponent rule is used, if the exponent is in the fractional form. The fractional
exponent rule is given by:

𝑎1𝑛=𝑎𝑛

Here, a is called the base, and 1/n is the exponent, which is in the fractional form. Thus, a1/n
is said to be the nth root of a.

Example 9:

Simplify: 41/2

Solution:

Here, the exponent is in fractional form. (i.e., ½)

According to the fractional exponent rule, 41/2 can be written as √4

(i.e.,) 41/2 = √4

41/2 = 2 (As, the square root of 4 is 2)

Hence, the simplified form of 41/2 is 2.

The below table shows the values of different expressions in terms of exponents along with
their expansions and values. This will help you in understanding the simplification of
numbers with exponents in detail.

Type of Exponent Expression Expansion Simplified value

Zero exponent 60 1 1

One exponent 41 4 4

Exponent and power 23 2×2×2 8

Negative exponent 5-3 1/53 = 1/(5 × 5 × 5) 1/125

Rational exponent 91/2 √9 3

Multiplication 32 × 33 3(2 + 3) = 35 273

Quotient 75/ 73 7(5 – 3) = 72 49

Power of exponent (82)2 8(2 × 2) = 84 4096

Example 1: Simplify (32 × 3-5)/ 9-2

Solution:

(32 × 3-5)/ 9-2 = 3(2 – 5) × 92

= 3-3 × (32)2

= 3-2 × 34

= 3(-2 + 4)

= 32

=9

Therefore, Simplify (32 × 3-5)/ 9-2 = 9

Example 2: Simplify and write the answer in exponential form.

(i) (25 ÷ 28 )5 × 2-5

(ii) (– 4)-3 × (5)-3 × (–5)-3

(iii) (1/8) × (3)-3

Solution:

(i) (25 ÷ 28 )5 × 2-5

= (25-8)5 × 2-5

= (2-3)5 × 2-5

= 2(-15 – 5)
= 2-20

Or

= 1/(2)20

(ii) (– 4)-3 × (5)-3 × (–5)-3

= [(– 4) × 5 × (–5)]-3

= [100]-3

(iii) (1/8) × (3)-3

= [1/(2)3] × (3)-3

= 2-3 × 3-3

= (2 × 3)-3

= 6-3

In Mathematics, there are different laws of exponents. All the rules of exponents are used to
solve many mathematical problems which involve repeated multiplication processes. The
laws of exponents simplify the multiplication and division operations and help to solve the
problems easily. In this article, we are going to discuss the six important laws of exponents
with many solved examples.