Powers and Roots

Powers

• The number 5^2 is read "five squared" or "five to the second power".
• The 5 is called a base number. The 2 is called an exponent.

Examples

• 5^3 is "five cubed" or "five to the third".
• 5^4 is "five to the fourth"
• 5^5 is "five to the fifth"
• 5^6 is "five to the sixth"

Powers Conti

• The exponent tells you to multiply the base number times itself the number the exponent indicates. 5^2 means 5 times itself or 5*5=25.
• (NOTE: Please be careful not to confuse this with 5*2).

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Square Roots

• The mathematical symbol for square root is √.
• To find the sqiuare root of 25 look for a number that multiplied by itself will result in 25. Therefore the square root of 25 is 5 because 5x5 is 25. √25=5
• Ex: √16=4 √9=3 √4=2 √100=10 √49=7

Square Roots Conti

• All of these numbers are called "perfect squares" because there is one whole number (interger) that is the result of finding the square root.
• What if you wanted to find to find the square root of 13? We suggest you use your calculator. Depending on the make and modle of your calculator, you may have to press the √ symbol first then the number or the number first then the √ symbol.

Square Roots Examples

• √8=2.828427125
• √325=18.02775638
• √13=3.60551275
• √37=6.08276253