what does this mean ^ and explain to me how it works thx!
2007-09-21 07:10:09 · 7 answers · asked by onetreehunny 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
^
to the power of
e.g.
x^5 = x.x.x.x.x = x to the power of 5
x^3 = x³
x^(1/2) = sqrt x = √x
2007-09-21 07:14:43 · answer #1 · answered by harry m 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a 'shorthand' symbol that means 'to the power of'. For example
3^5 means 3*3*3*3*3 = 243 and
x^9 = x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x
In most textbooks things such as x^2 are written as x² (which can be done on an ASCII keyboard as Alt-253), but you can't do x^5 that way so the common convention of writing exponents as ^ has evolved over the last 50 years or so. It's also the 'standard' way to represent exponents in most computer languages.
HTH
Doug
2007-09-21 14:19:10 · answer #2 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
^ means to the power of. Several other notations are used by others.
2^3 = 2 x 2 x 2 (2 multiplied by itself 3 times)
8^5 means 8 x 8 x 8 x 8 x 8 = 32768
2007-09-21 14:27:39 · answer #3 · answered by cidyah 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually it means raised to a power. If you have 3^2 it means 3 to the second power, 3x3 or 9
2007-09-21 14:15:30 · answer #4 · answered by mom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means exponentiation...raising to a power.
Example: 2^3 = 2x2x2 = 8
Example a^4 = axaxaxa = a^2 x a^2 = a^3 x a
2007-09-21 14:15:27 · answer #5 · answered by PMP 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Exponent.
2^5 = 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 (five times)
2007-09-21 14:14:56 · answer #6 · answered by rahidz2003 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well it depends, like what is it used in
when its lik 6^2 that means 6 squared
2007-09-21 14:18:56 · answer #7 · answered by Spader 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋