What is exponent?

What Does exponent Mean

The term exponent has various uses and meanings. By exponent we can understand a person, a thing or a number that exposes ; In the first two cases, expose is a verb that refers to presenting something, making it known, while the mathematical concept is related to empowerment. Let's look at some example sentences: “Your uncle is the exponent that exemplifies how a person, with a little luck, can reach the top” , “This liquid will be the exponent of how heat can alter the state of a substance” , "To solve the product of a series of powers with the same base, it is possible to add their exponents and make a single power . "

An exponent is, on the other hand, a prototype , the model of a virtue or quality. It is about a thing or person representative of the most characteristic of a group : "The mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli is the best exponent of the Italian voice" , "The exponent of tango was, is and will be Carlos Gardel", "The Eiffel Tower he is a faithful exponent of French architecture ” .

In the field of mathematics, the operation that involves a series of multiplications of a given number a certain number of times is known as potentiation ; The first component is called the base and is represented by the letter a , while the second is called the exponent and is written as an n . In this case, an exponent is an algebraic expression or a simple number that denotes the power to which another expression or another number (the base) must be raised.
The exponent must be placed in the upper right part of the element to be raised. How to read an operation of this type is " a high an ', although it can also be said' to raised to the n ". On the other hand, it is important to note that in the case of exponents 2 and 3 , the correct readings are " a squared " and " a cubed ", respectively.
Empowerment tends to confuse people outside of mathematics , but it is a very simple operation, since it is based on multiplication, which, in turn, is part of the addition. If we take example 2 cubed (that is, to the third power), the steps to follow are as follows: multiply by 2 by itself and then the result by two; this gives us 8 . Why have we done two steps if the exponent is 3? Actually, 3 steps have taken place, if not 4.
Since our exponent (3) is a natural number , that is, it belongs to the set of numbers that we use to count things in the real world, it indicates the number of times that the base (2) will appear in a multiplication where it will be the only factor . Thus, 2 cubed becomes 2 x 2 x 2 , which equals 8 . From this new representation it can be deduced that 2 raised to 1 is 2 , and the same happens in all cases.

On the other hand, it should be mentioned that any number other than 0 that is raised to 0 results in 1 . On the other hand, 0 raised to 0 is a particular case that is not defined.
As mentioned in previous paragraphs, if you want to multiply powers that have the same base, you can add their exponents and convert the expression into a single power; For example: 2 to the power of 4 + 2 to the cube can be transformed into 2 to the power of 7 . When you have one power of another, such as (2 raised to 6) raised to 7 , it can be simplified by multiplying both exponents (6 x 7) and performing a single operation, which would leave us 2 raised to 42 .