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Powers (Indices)

Powers tell us how many times to use a number in multiplication.

5<sup>n</sup> means n copies of 5 multiplied together

5n means n copies of 5 multiplied together

  • 5n is called ‘5 raised to the power of n’

Roots

Roots are the opposite of powers.

Square root

Square root

  • √25 means the number that squares to give 25 and so is +5 or -5 which we write as ±5.
    • There will always be a positive and a negative square root.
Cube root

Cube root

  • 3√125 means the number that cubes to give 125 and so is 5.
    • Note that (-5)3 = -125 so there is only one cube root.
n<sup>th</sup> root

nth root

  • n√x means the number that when raised to the power of n gives x.
    • There will be positive and negative roots if n is even, and only a positive root if n is odd.
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Numbers

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Equations, Formulae & Identities

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Sequences, Functions & Graphs

4

Geometry

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Vectors & Transformation Geometry

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Statistics & Probability

Practice questions on Index Notation

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    What is 2<sup>2</sup>?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    What is 3<sup>2</sup>?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    What is 4<sup>3</sup>?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    What is 1<sup>2</sup>?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    Which of these is 125?Multiple choice
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