Question

Choose the best definition for the following term: exponent.

a.The number listed first when combining a variable and a number
b.The number or value being raised to a power
c.A letter that holds the place of some unknown value in mathematics
d.Shorthand that tells how many times the base is used as a factor, or how many times the base is multiplied by itself

Answer 1

What do you think? :)

Answer 2

a.

Answer 3

The number listed first when combining a variable and a number means something like the "3" in the expression:

3x

That's not an exponent, that's called a "coefficient".

Answer 4

Think about what an exponent MEANS.

\(\Large 2^3=2\cdot 2\cdot 2\)
\(\Large x^5=x\cdot x\cdot x \cdot x \cdot x\)

What did I DO there?

In the first one, I lined up three 2's, and multiplied them.

In the second one, I lined up five x's, and multiplied them.

Answer 5

By the way, the "2" and the "x" in each expression is called the "base".

Answer 6

so it's d

Answer 7

Yes ma'am. :)