document.write( "Question 78476: what does^this mean in an equation? I haven't been to school in 20 years, I am just now going back to college \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #56293 by bucky(2189) $\"\"$ $\"About$

You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Since in ordinary keyboarding you can't make an exponent, it is common practice to use
\n" ); document.write( "the ^ symbol to indicate that what follows it is an exponent. Examples:
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\n" ); document.write( "x^2 is the same as $\"x%5E2\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "5^(2x-3) is the same as $\"5%5E%282x-3%29\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "y^-2 means $\"y%5E-2\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "You have to be careful with using this method. It's always a good idea to use parentheses
\n" ); document.write( "to make sure that you are specifying the exponent correctly. For example, if you write:
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\n" ); document.write( "4^x-3
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\n" ); document.write( "then by the rules of algebra it means $\"4%5Ex+-+3\"$ but you might have wanted it to mean:
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\n" ); document.write( " $\"4%5E%28x-3%29\"$ . In this latter case you should have written it as 4^(x-3).
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\n" ); document.write( "In a string of terms you might say:
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\n" ); document.write( "x^4 + 2x^3 - 4x^2 + 2x - 3
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\n" ); document.write( "this should be interpreted as:
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\n" ); document.write( " $\"x%5E4+%2B+2x%5E3+-+4x%5E2+%2B+2x+-+3\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "And as a final case x^y^2 is $\"x%5Ey%5E2\"$
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\n" ); document.write( "Hope this helps you to understand the use of the ^ symbol \n" ); document.write( "

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