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When an exponent is a positive integer, that exponent indicates how many copies of the base are multiplied together. For example, 3 5 = 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 = 243. The base 3 appears 5 times in the multiplication, because the exponent is 5. Here, 243 is the 5th power of 3, or 3 raised to the 5th power.
Multiplication symbols are usually omitted, and implied, when there is no operator between two variables or terms, or when a coefficient is used. For example, 3 × x 2 is written as 3x 2, and 2 × x × y is written as 2xy. [5] Sometimes, multiplication symbols are replaced with either a dot or center-dot, so that x × y is written as either x ...
Solving for , = = = = = Thus, the power rule applies for rational exponents of the form /, where is a nonzero natural number. This can be generalized to rational exponents of the form p / q {\displaystyle p/q} by applying the power rule for integer exponents using the chain rule, as shown in the next step.
When multiplication is repeated, the resulting operation is known as exponentiation. For instance, the product of three factors of two (2×2×2) is "two raised to the third power", and is denoted by 2 3, a two with a superscript three. In this example, the number two is the base, and three is the exponent. [26]
Rational number arithmetic is the branch of arithmetic that deals with the manipulation of numbers that can be expressed as a ratio of two integers. [93] Most arithmetic operations on rational numbers can be calculated by performing a series of integer arithmetic operations on the numerators and the denominators of the involved numbers.
A rational algebraic expression (or rational expression) is an algebraic expression that can be written as a quotient of polynomials, such as x 2 + 4x + 4. An irrational algebraic expression is one that is not rational, such as √ x + 4.
The definition of exponentiation can also be given by transfinite recursion on the exponent β. When the exponent β = 0, ordinary exponentiation gives α 0 = 1 for any α. For β > 0, the value of α β is the smallest ordinal greater than or equal to α δ · α for all δ < β. Writing the successor and limit ordinals cases separately: α 0 = 1.
Exponentiation by squaring can be viewed as a suboptimal addition-chain exponentiation algorithm: it computes the exponent by an addition chain consisting of repeated exponent doublings (squarings) and/or incrementing exponents by one (multiplying by x) only.