1. Copyright 2013, 2010, 2007, 2005, Pearson, Education, Inc.

2. Negative Exponents and Scientific Notation
5.5
Negative Exponents and Scientific Notation

3. Negative Exponents
Using the quotient rule,
But what does x-2 mean?

4. Negative Exponents
In order to extend the quotient rule to cases where the difference of the exponents would give us a negative number we define negative exponents as follows.
If a is a real number other than 0, and n is an integer, then

5. Example Simplify by writing each result using positive exponents only.
Helpful Hint
Don’t forget that since there are no parentheses, x is the base for the exponent –4.

6. Example
Simplify by write each result using positive exponents only.

7. Example
Simplify by writing each of the following expressions with positive exponents. a.
(Note that to convert a power with a negative exponent to one with a positive exponent, you simply switch the power from the numerator to the denominator, or vice versa, and switch the exponent to its opposite value.) b.

8. Summary of Exponent Rules
If m and n are integers and a and b are real numbers, then:
Product rule for exponents am · an = am+n
Power rule for exponents (am)n = amn
Power of a product (ab)n = an · bn
Power of a quotient
Quotient rule for exponents
Zero exponent a0 = 1, a ≠ 0
Negative exponent

9. Example
Simplify by writing the following expression with positive exponents. 9

10. Scientific Notation
In many fields of science we encounter very large or very small numbers. Scientific notation is a convenient shorthand for expressing these types of numbers.
A positive number is written in scientific notation if it is written as the product of a number a, where 1 ≤ a < 10, and an integer power r of 10: a ×10r.

11. Scientific Notation
Step 1: Move the decimal point in the original number so that the new number has a value between 1 and 10
Step 2: Count the number of decimal places the decimal point is moved in Step 1. If the original number is 10 or greater, the count is positive. If the original number is less than 1, the count is negative.
Step 3: Multiply the new number in Step 1 by 10 raised to an exponent equal to the count found in Step 2.

12. Example Write each of the following in scientific notation. 4700
Move the decimal 3 places to the left, so that the new number has a value between 1 and 10.
4700 a.
Since we moved the decimal 3 places, and the original number was > 10, our count is positive 3.
4700 =
Move the decimal 4 places to the right, so that the new number has a value between 1 and 10. b.
Since we moved the decimal 4 places, and the original number was < 1, our count is negative 4. =

13. Scientific Notation
In general, to write a scientific notation number in standard form, move the decimal point the same number of spaces as the exponent on 10. If the exponent is positive, move the decimal point to the right. If the exponent is negative, move the decimal point to the left.

14. Example
Write each of the following in standard notation. a.
Since the exponent is a positive 3, we move the decimal 3 places to the right. = b.
Since the exponent is a negative 5, we move the decimal 5 places to the left. =

15. Operations with Scientific Notation
Multiplying and dividing with numbers written in scientific notation involves using properties of exponents.

16. Example Perform the following operations. (7.3 10-2)(8.1 105) a.
( )( ) a.
= (7.3 · 8.1) (10-2 · 105) =
= 59,130 b.