What I have learned about grade 9 exponents

What is an exponent?

An exponent is a number that makes copies of a number. For example; $2^5$ The big number is called the base (2) and the small number is called an exponent (5)

The difference between evaluating and simplifying

Evaluating fractions is when you answer or do an entire question. For example if there was a question like; $4^2$ x $4^3$ you would do then entire question. (4×4 x 4x4x4)

Or simplify the question. Lets say the question was $3^4$ x $3^3$ You could simply add the exponents together and ten you would get the simplified answer and in this case it would be $3^7$

The difference between evaluating and simplifying is that when you evaluate you are doing the full question but simplify, you are using a short cut.

The multiplication law and why it works

The multiplication law is probably my favourite law. What the multiplication law is a law that makes question a whole lot easier. So lets say that we have $2^3$ x $2^6$ Instead of of doing the entire equation, when the base numbers are the same we can simply add the exponents together. So the answer would be $2^9$ It is a very simple rule and it is super easy because we don’t have to get some crazy big answer.

The division law and why it works

The division law is pretty similar to the multiplication law except instead of adding the exponents we are going to subtract the exponents instead. So lets say we have $3^10$ divided by $3^8$ The answer would be $3^2$ DON’T FORGET: You CAN NOT use the multiplication or division law is the bases aren’t the same!

The power of a power law and why it works

The power law is when you have a question that looks like this: $(3^2)^3$ Instead of adding the exponents, we are going to multiply them. So 2×3=6 so the answer should be $3^6$ The power law is super simple once you get the hang of it.