Exp onents are used extensively in science to re present
numbers in a compact way
and to ease calculations. The first instance can be seen in scientific notation:
0.000000000342 = 3.42 x 10-10 If everything were written as a
decimal, like the
number on the left, half our time would be spent answering the question “How
many
zeroes was that?” Since Physics deals with numbers all the way from 10-34
to 1070,
so we don’t want to clutter the page with uncountable zeroes!
Calculating with exponents is very simple , once you get the basic ideas.
Exponents, positive and negative :
Negative exponents are used to represent decimals less
than one.
Multiplying and dividing with exponents:
Multiply => add exponents
Divide => subtract exponents
Example:
