2^3 = 2 x 2 x 2 = 8
2^2 = 2 x 2 = 4
2^1 = 2
2^0 = 2/2 = 1
Notice that each time you decrease the exponent by 1, you’re effectively dividing by the base number, since to remove a multiplication operation you must divide. Once you get to an exponent of 0, you’re simply just dividing by the base number, which always equals 1
No, x^0 has nothing to do with x*0. Think about the powers of 2
2^1 = 2
2^2 = 4
2^3 = 8
2^4 = 16
The exponent is the number of twos in that multiplication. What would make this work if there were _zero_ twos? 1, as in
1 = 1
1 * 2 = 2
1 * 2 * 2 =4
1 * 2 *2 * 2=8
Etc. also, remember that negative exponents cause you to put a 1/ over the result, as in:
2^-1 = 1/2
2^-2 = 1/4
If you start with the higher powers and go down, you’ll see it’s like dividing by 2, and it will be easy to see what should go there:
32
16
8
4
2
?????
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/16
1/32
[I like the Wikipedia explanation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponentiation)
From the *definition* of exponentiation you get a rule that makes a lot of sense and then use algebra to demonstrate a rule that is less apparent.
So your instructor was right. He was told what it was. He just didn’t bother to remember the demonstration.
Ok so
x^0 = x^(n-n), since n-n is of course = 0
Know, for properties of however those are called in English, I think exponentials, x^a / x^b = x^(a-b)
So you can now imagine how
x^0 = x^(n-n) = x^n / x^n =
Since a number divided by himself is 1
x^0 = x^(n-n) = x^n / x^n = 1
EDIT:
You can now interrogate yourself on how
x^a / x^b = x^(a-b)
Since x^a means you will multiply x for it self a times, you will get a thing like
x^4 / x^3 = (x x x x) / (x x x) = x = x^1 = x^(4-3)
Latest Answers