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Exponent Rules Explained

There are seven rules of exponents: 1) When multiplying the same bases, keep the bases and add the exponents. 2) When dividing the same bases, keep the bases and subtract the exponents. 3) When raising a power to a power, multiply the exponents. 4) When distributing an exponent, the exponent is distributed to each term. 5) Exponents are distributed to all terms when raising a quotient to a power. 6) A negative exponent is changed to a positive exponent by flipping the number to a reciprocal. 7) Examples are provided for each rule.

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336 views7 pages

Exponent Rules Explained

There are seven rules of exponents: 1) When multiplying the same bases, keep the bases and add the exponents. 2) When dividing the same bases, keep the bases and subtract the exponents. 3) When raising a power to a power, multiply the exponents. 4) When distributing an exponent, the exponent is distributed to each term. 5) Exponents are distributed to all terms when raising a quotient to a power. 6) A negative exponent is changed to a positive exponent by flipping the number to a reciprocal. 7) Examples are provided for each rule.

Uploaded by

De Guzman
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Exponents are also called Powers or Indices

The exponent of a number says how many times to use


the number in a multiplication.

There are seven exponent rules, or laws of exponents,


each shows how to solve different types of math equations
and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide exponents.

 First Rule: Product of a Power


When multiplying two bases of the same value, keep
the bases the same and then add the exponents
together to get the solution.

𝒂𝒏 ∙ 𝒂𝒎 = 𝒂𝒏+𝒎
 (𝟒𝟐 )(𝟒𝟓 ) = (𝟒𝟐+𝟓 ) = 𝟒𝟕 = 𝟏𝟔𝟑𝟖𝟒
 (𝟒𝒙𝟐 )(𝟐𝒙𝟑 ) = (𝟒 ∙ 𝟐)(𝒙𝟐 ∙ 𝒙𝟑 )
= 𝟖𝒙𝟐+𝟑 = 𝟖𝒙𝟓
Multiply the coefficients together (four and two), as they
are not the same base. Then keep the same variable (x)
and add the exponents.

 (𝟓𝟑 )(𝟓𝟔 ) = (𝟓𝟑+𝟔 ) = 𝟓𝟗 = 𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟑𝟏𝟐𝟓


 (𝒂𝒃𝟐 )(𝒂𝟐 𝒃𝟑 )(𝟐𝒂𝒃) = (𝟐𝒂𝟏+𝟐+𝟏 𝒃𝟐+𝟑+𝟏 )
= 𝟐𝒂𝟒 𝒃𝟔

 Second Rule: Quotient of a Power


Multiplication and division are opposites of each other
-- much the same, the quotient rule acts as the
opposite of the product rule. When dividing two bases
of the same value, keep the same base, and then
subtract the exponents.
𝒂𝒎 𝒎−𝒏
= 𝒂
𝒂𝒏
𝒎𝟖
 𝟐 = 𝒎𝟖−𝟐 = 𝒎𝟔
𝒎

𝟓𝟓
 𝟑 = 𝟓𝟓−𝟑 = 𝟓𝟐 = 𝟐𝟓
𝟓
1
𝟓𝒙𝟒 𝟓 𝟒−𝟐 𝟏 𝟐 𝒙𝟐
 = (𝟏𝟎 𝒙 ) = 𝒙 𝒐𝒓
𝟏𝟎𝒙𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
2
𝟒𝒑𝟕 2𝟒∙𝒑∙𝒑∙𝒑∙𝒑∙𝒑∙𝒑∙𝒑 𝟐𝒑𝟓
 = = = 𝟐𝒑𝟓
𝟐𝒑𝟐 𝟐∙𝒑∙𝒑 𝟏

𝟒
= (𝟐) (𝒑𝟕−𝟐 ) = 𝟐𝒑𝟓

 Third Rule: Power of a Power


This rule shows how to solve equations where a
power is being raised by another power. Multiply the
exponents together and keep the base the same.

(𝒂𝒎 )𝒏 = 𝒂𝒎∙𝒏
𝟑 𝟑
 (𝒙 ) = 𝒙𝟑 ∙ 𝟑 = 𝒙𝟗
𝟐 𝟐
 (𝟐 ) = 𝟐𝟐 ∙ 𝟐 = 𝟐𝟒 = 𝟏𝟔
𝟐
 [(−𝟑 ] = (−𝟑)𝟒 ∙ 𝟐 = (−𝟑)𝟖 = −𝟔𝟓𝟔𝟏
) 𝟒

 (𝒚𝒎 )𝟓 = 𝒚𝒎 ∙ 𝟓 = 𝒚𝟓𝒎

 Fourth Rule: Power of a Product


When any base is being multiplied by an
exponent, distribute the exponent to each part of the base.

(𝒂𝒃)𝒙 = 𝒂𝒙 𝒃𝒙

 (𝒙𝒚)𝟑 = 𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟑
 (𝒙 𝟐 𝒚𝟑 𝟐
) = (𝒙𝟐 ∙ 𝟐 𝒚𝟑 ∙ 𝟐 ) = 𝒙𝟒 𝒚𝟔
𝟒
 (𝟐𝒑 𝒒 𝒓) = (𝟐𝟒 𝒑𝟐 ∙ 𝟒 𝒒𝟑 ∙ 𝟒 𝒓𝟏 ∙ 𝟒 )
𝟐 𝟑

= 𝟏𝟔𝒑𝟖 𝒒𝟏𝟐 𝒓𝟒

 Fifth Rule: Power of a Quotient


A quotient simply means that you’re dividing two
quantities. In this rule, you’re raising a quotient by a
power. Like the power of a product rule, the exponent
needs to be distributed to all values within the
brackets it’s attached to.
𝒂 𝒏 𝒂𝒏
( ) =
𝒃 𝒃𝒏

𝒙 𝟒 𝒙𝟒
 ( ) =
𝒚 𝒚𝟒

𝟐
𝟒𝒙𝟑 𝟒 𝟐 𝒙𝟑 ∙ 𝟐 𝟏𝟔𝒙𝟔
 ( 𝟒 ) = =
𝟓𝒚 𝟓𝟐 𝒚𝟒 ∙ 𝟐 𝟐𝟓𝒚𝟖
𝟑
𝟒𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟑 𝟒𝟑 𝒙𝟐 ∙ 𝟑 𝒚𝟑 ∙ 𝟑 𝟔𝟒𝒙𝟔 𝒚𝟗
 ( ) = ( 𝟐𝟑 𝒙𝟏 ∙ 𝟑 𝒚𝟑 ∙ 𝟑 ) = = 𝟖𝒙𝟑
𝟐𝒙𝒚𝟑 𝟖𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟗

 Sixth Rule: Negative Exponents


When there is a number being raised by a negative
exponent, flip it into a reciprocal to turn the exponent into a
positive. Don’t use the negative exponent to turn the base
into a negative.

−𝒏
𝟏
𝒂 = 𝒏
𝒂

To make a number into a reciprocal:


1. Turn the number into a fraction (put it over one)
2. Flip the numerator into the denominator and vice versa
3. When a negative exponent switches places in a fraction
it becomes positive.
𝟏
 𝒙−𝟐 = 𝒙𝟐

𝒙−𝟑 𝒚−𝟐 𝒙𝟔 𝒚𝟒
 −𝟔 −𝟒 = = 𝒙𝟔−𝟑 𝒚𝟒−𝟐 = 𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟐
𝒙 𝒚 𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟐

𝟒𝒙−𝟑 𝒚𝟐 𝟒𝒚𝟐 ∙ 𝒚𝟑 𝒚𝟐+𝟑 𝒚𝟓


 = = =
𝟐𝟎𝒙𝒚−𝟑 𝟐𝟎𝒙 ∙ 𝒙𝟑 𝟓𝒙𝟏+𝟑 𝟓𝒙𝟒

https://www.prodigygame.com/main-
en/blog/exponent-rules
https://www.math-only-math.com/laws-of-
exponents.html

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