UNIT OVERVIEW

You already know that $3 \times 3 = 9$.

But what if you need to multiply $3$ by itself $10$ times?

$3 \times 3 \times 3 \times 3 \times 3 \times 3 \times 3 \times 3 \times 3 \times 3 = ?$

Writing this out is long and confusing. That's why we use exponents — a shorter way to write repeated multiplication.

In this unit, you will learn:

• What exponents are and how to read them
• The laws of exponents that make calculations easier
• How to work with negative exponents
• How to solve problems using exponential form

Where exponents appear in real life:

• Population growth (doubling over time)
• Computer storage ($2^{10}$ bytes = $1$ kilobyte)
• Compound interest on savings
• Scientific measurements (very large or very small numbers)

---