Final answer:
In formulas, exponents are indicated by a raised number or a caret symbol (^). For example, squaring the number 5 would be written as 5² or 5^2 in digital form. Exponential arithmetic uses this notation to simplify multiplication and division operations involving powers of ten.
Step-by-step explanation:
To indicate an exponent in a formula, we use a raised number to the right of the base number. The symbol for an exponent is either a superscript numeral when written by hand, or using the caret symbol (^) in digital form. For example, if we're squaring the number 5, it would look like 5², which means 5 x 5 = 25. In many computer-based applications like spreadsheets, calculators, or programming languages, we would write this as 5^2.
Exponential arithmetic simplifies the process of working with very large or very small numbers by using a base number and a power. For instance, to multiply 3 x 10⁵ and 2 x 10°, you would multiply the coefficients (3 and 2) to get 6, and then add the exponents (5 and 0) to get 10⁵, resulting in a final answer of 6 x 10⁵.