Exponents

Summary
This lesson introduces students to exponents.

Objectives
• To be able to explain what exponents are.

• To be able list some exponent rules.

• To be able to list some simplification rules.

Suggested Grades
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
Exponents are shortcuts to express a multiplication of a number by itself. Exponents tell you how many times you should multiply the number by. This process of using exponents is called ?raising to a power,? where the exponent is the ?power.?

For example: instead of writing 2 x 2 x 2, you could write 23.
2 is known as the base. 3 is the exponent or power.

Examples:
22 = 2 x 2 = 4
52 = 5 x 5 = 25
33 = 3 x 3 x 3 = 27

Continued...