196k views
3 votes
What is an exponent? Because i am confused

User Jenilee
by
5.3k points

1 Answer

5 votes

An exponent is a number written above and to the right side of a value or number in math. The value or number is called the base, and the expression is read out as;

"Base raised to the power of exponent."

An example is given below;


10^3

In this example, 10 is the base and 3 is the EXPONENT.

The expression is now read out as,

"10 raised to the power of 3"

Note that even unknown values (such x as we commonly use in math) can also be an exponent or base. For example, we can have;


\begin{gathered} 10^x \\ OR \\ 2x^3 \end{gathered}

So basically, an exponent indicates the number of times a number is used to multiply itself.

User Nazark
by
5.5k points