Exponent Rules

In this section, we review the rules of exponents. The rules of exponents are crucial to working successfully with polynomials. We begin with the product rule for exponents. The product rule for exponents tells us when we multiply exponential expressions with like bases, we keep the base the same and add exponents. Next, we cover the quotient rule for exponents. Similar to the product rule, we learn that if we are dividing exponential expressions with like bases, we keep the base the same and subtract the exponent in the denominator away from the exponent in the numerator. We then learn the rule for raising a non-zero number to zero. Any non-zero number raised to the power of zero is 1. We then cover raising an exponential expression to a negative power. For this action, we take the reciprocal of the base and then make the exponent positive. Lastly, we cover the various power rules for exponents. The main one to understand is the power to power rule. When we raise a power to another power, we keep the base the same and multiply exponents.