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One person calls 3 people. The next day, those people each call

3 people. The third day, those people each call 3 people. Write
an expression using exponents for the number of calls made on
the third day.

User Doov
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1 Answer

7 votes

Answer:

Explanation:

You want an expression using an exponent to represent the number 3·3·3.

Repeated multiplication

As you know, a coefficient is used to represent repeated addition:

a + a + a = 3a

The coefficient 3 in the above expression signifies that 'a' appears in the sum 3 times.

Likewise, repeated multiplication can be represented using a specific notation. An exponent signifies the number of times a factor appears in a product:

a · a · a = a³ . . . . . 'a' is a factor 3 times

Application

You have a sequence of numbers of telephone calls:

3 the first day

3·3 the second day

3·3·3 the third day

The calls on the third day can be represented using an exponent:

__

Additional comment

When superscript formatting is not available for the exponent, it is signified by a caret (^). The same number is 3^3 when written in plain text.

As you might expect, a plain text exponent must be enclosed in parentheses if it is other than a single letter or number.

User Rubber Boots
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