Exponents

What is an exponent? How do you solve one? Which parts which? Some people might be pondering these questions. If you're one of those people, don't get scared exponents are easy and I'm here to help you understand. Just call the Exponent Queen.

Exponent: A number that tells you how many times to multiply another number.

A start to all those questions would probably be to explain to you the parts of an exponent. You might see something that looks like this: 52. That simply says five to the second power. The number to the left (in this case the 5) is the base. The number to the top right (in this case the 2) is the exponent.

Now that you know the parts of an exponent your probably want to know how to solve it, so here are the steps one by one.

Example: 34

Step 1: Find out what the exponent says. (In this case it says three to the fourth power).

Step 2: Locate your base and exponent. (This problems base is 3 and its exponent is 4).

Step 3: Multiply your base by itself however many times your exponent is. (In our situation you would solve the problem like this: 3*3*3*3=81. Still not sure how I got that answer? Well let me break the problem down. 3*3=9, That's is two 3's. Then, 9*3=27, That's three 3's. Lastly, 27*3= 81, That's four 3's. That's your answer 81).

Step 4: You have your answer! (Ours is 81).

Why do I need to know exponents? Well, one reason is it can help you in other subjects such as science. For example, the scientific notation. You need to know exponents for this to help you to convert the numbers.

Still Need Help? Go to:

http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/math/exp/LExp.html

Scientific Notation! Go to:

http://www.avalon.net/~bstuder/sci_notation.html

The Mean!


Yes, we all know that when we think about the word mean we think hurtful, rude, or bullying. But not in math class. What you might have not known is that the word mean has several definitions and your about to learn the second.

Mean: The average amount!

So, yes, as scary as the word mean might sound, it's just the average. So, now I'm going to teach how to find the mean.

Step 1: Look at the list of numbers you have.

Step 2: Put the numbers in order from least to greatest.

Step 3: Add all the numbers up to get a sum.

Step 4: Count how many numbers you have in your list.

Step 5: Take the sum you found, and divide it by how ever many numbers there are in the list.

Step 6: That's it, your done! The dividened is your answer!

Example: 5, 2, 2

Step 1: 5, 2, 2

Step 2: 2, 2, 5

Step 3: 2 + 2 + 5 = 9

Step 4: 2, 2, 5 - 3 numbers

Sep 5: 9 divied by 3 = 3

Step 6: Your answer is 3!