Question

What are the small numbers for math? and why does there need to be letters and what do they mean? (I'm sorry if this question sounds weird)

Answer 1

The small numbers in math shows that you have to mutiplies how much the power is. For Example, 5 with a power of 2 → 5² that's what it looks like.

Answer 2

By "small numbers" you probably mean exponents. The exponent just represents how many times you multiply the number by itself. For example,
`4^(3)` means 4 x 4 x 4, which equals 64.

The "letters" are called variables. They represent an unknown value. The most common variables you'll see are x and y, which are used a lot in graphing. Variables are often used in equations. For example:

"Maria wants to buy cupcakes, at $2.50 each. She only has 10 dollars. How many cupcakes can she buy?"

You would use an exponent to solve this problem. If you make cupcakes "C" then you can say:

C (the # of cupcakes) times 2.50 (cost per cupcake) = 10.

(in shorter terms, 2.50c=10.)

You can then solve for "c" by dividing by 2.50 on both sides and you can then see that Maria has enough money to buy 4 cupcakes.

Hope this helps! :)