Exponents Discovery

Monday, October 07, 2013 10:07 AM

Part One
I learned many things in the first part of the Exponents Discovery activity. The first thing that I learned was that the bottom number in an exponent is called the base. I also learned that there are many different names for a number with an exponent. I also learned that variables can be exponents too. Finally I learned that exponents can be negative and that they decrease a number instead of increasing it like with normal exponents. Questions and Answers What is a base?
A base is the bottom number in an exponent. It is the number that is being multiplied by itself the amount of times the power says. In the exponent 32 the base is the three. What is a power? A power is the top number in an exponent. It shows the amount of times the base is multiplied by itself. In the exponent 32 the power is the two. What does a base and power (exponent) tell you to do? What the base and power in an exponent tells you to do is to multiply the base by itself the amount of times that the power says. For example the exponent 32 means the same thing as 3*3 so the answer would be 9. What is a power a shortcut to? The power is the shortcut to writing out a multiplication problem in which two of the same numbers are multiplied by each other. So 3*3 would become 32 or three to the second power. How could you use geometry to describe squaring or cubing a number? Geometry can be used to describe the squaring or cubing the number because the numbers can be used in squaring and cubing. A number multiplied by the same number will form a square if you are dealing with area. For example 32 or 3*3 would form a rectangle with all sides the same length, a square. A number multiplied by itself three times will form a cube if you are talking about volume. For example 33 or 3*3*3 would form a cube because all sides would be of equal length, three of whatever units you are talking about.

Part Two
Base 2 Exponent Meaning 4 3 2 2 2 1 2 0 2 -1 Value

2*2*2*2 2*2*2

16 8

2*2

2*1/2

1/2

1/2

Introduction to Exponents Page 1

2 -2 2 -3 2 -4 2

1/2*1/2

1/4

1/2*1/2*1/2

1/8

1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2 1/16

Part Three
1. What do you get when you add x by x? x+x=2x 2. What do you get when you subtract x by x? x-x=0 3. What do you get when you multiply x by x? x*x=x2 4. What do you get when you divide x by x? x/x=x-2 5. What do you get when you multiply x by x by x? x*x*x=x3 6. What about x by x by x by x by x? x*x*x*x*x=x5 7. What do you get when you multiply x^2 by x? x*x*x=x3 8. What about x^2 by x^3? x*x*x*x*x=x5 9. What about x^4 by x^6? x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x=x10 10. Come up with a rule that explains what happens when you multiply same bases. When you multiply same bases that are variables you add the two exponents together and then write the answer. For example the answer to x2*x3 is x5. 11. What do you get when you divide x by x? x/x=1 12. What do you get when you multiply x^2 by x? x*x*x=x3 13. What about x^4 by x^2? x*x*x*x*x*x=x6 14. What do you get when you divide x^5 by x^3? x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x=x2 15. What about x^6 by x? x/x/x/x/x/x=x5 16. Come up with a rule that explains what happens when you divide same bases. When you divide same bases with different powers take the smaller power and subtract it from the larger power. 17. What do you get when you square x^3? x3*x3=x9 18. What do you get when you square x^4? X4x4=x16 19. What do you get when you cube x^2? X2x2=x4 20. What do you get when you raise x^3 to the fourth power? 3*3*3*3=81 so that would mean that the answer is x81 21. What do you get when you raise x^2 to the fifth power? 2*2*2*2*2=32 so that would mean that the answer is x32

Introduction to Exponents Page 2

2*2*2*2*2=32 so that would mean that the answer is x32 22. Come up with a rule that explains what happens when you raise a base with an exponent by an exponent. When you raise a base with an exponent by an exponent you basically multiply the exponent by itself the amount of times the higher exponent tells you to. For example y2^2 would become y4.

Introduction to Exponents Page 3