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Laws of exponentsIB MYP Maths Standard: Flashcards

What these 13 flashcards ask

  • Multiplication law for powers with the same base?
  • Division law for powers with the same base?
  • Power of a power law?
  • Simplify (2x^3)^2.
  • What is a^0 (for a\ne0)?
  • What does a^{-n} mean?
  • Find 2^{-3}.
  • Find \left(\frac23\right)^{-2}.
  • Simplify x^7\times x^{-3}.
  • Simplify \dfrac{x^3}{x^{-4}}.
  • Simplify \dfrac{12a^5}{4a^2}.
  • What does a negative exponent do to the sign of the number?
  • Why is a^0=1?

Exam questions on Laws of exponents

  1. Let xx be any non-zero number.
    Write x5×x−2x−4\dfrac{x^5\times x^{-2}}{x^{-4}} as a single power of xx.2 marks
  2. Do not use a calculator in this question. Give each answer as an integer or a fraction in its simplest form.
    Find the value of (23)−2\left(\dfrac{2}{3}\right)^{-2}.2 marks
  3. Maya is simplifying algebraic expressions. All the letters represent non-zero numbers.
    Simplify 12a5b−24a2b\dfrac{12a^5b^{-2}}{4a^2b}. Write your answer with positive exponents only.3 marks
See the full worksheet

Written by the Exaim team, led by Shaun Daswani (Head of Upper Secondary, Improve ME Institute; MSc Financial Mathematics, Imperial College London; BSc, UCL) and Jason Daswani (operational lead, Improve ME Institute; LSE).