8

Like these: $^{1 \ 2 \ 3 \ 4 \ 5 \ 6 \ 7 \ 8 \ 9}$.

They are little numbers aside the regular sized unicode characters, and you see them pop up in equations as follows: $$1 + 1^9 \times 33^9(3) = {?}.$$ What do the tiny/little digits mean, and how do they work and make sense?

beep-boop
  • 11,595
Tom Turkey
  • 97

1 Answers1

2

Those little numbers are called exponents. They work by multiplying the number below them by itself $n$ times, where $n$ is the exponent. For example $$2^3=2\cdot2\cdot2=8$$ $$14^2=14\cdot14$$ Also you can take as a definition that $x^0=1$ for any number $x$.

You can find more informations about exponentiation in the Wikipedia page.

Daniel Robert-Nicoud
  • 29,795
  • 1
    So exponentiation is the same thing as "to the power of"? – Tom Turkey Nov 02 '13 at 20:37
  • That Wiki article is very, very complex when you read it in full. It just makes the problem harder to understand from the bigger picture. – Tom Turkey Nov 02 '13 at 20:38
  • This may sound like a quibble, but … I would reword the answer given to say, “If $n$ is positive, they work by multiplying unity — i.e., the quantity 1 — by the number below them $n$ times, where $n$ is the exponent; if $n$ is negative, division rather than multiplication is performed. ” Now my conscience is clear. «Senex Ægypti Parvi» [email protected] – Senex Ægypti Parvi Nov 03 '13 at 00:38
  • 1
    @TomTurkey Yes, exponentiation is the act of taking numbers to powers. "2 to the power of 5" is $2^5$ and 2 is the "base" and 5 is the "exponent" or "power". – Mark S. Nov 10 '13 at 04:55