10 Exponent Rules Every GRE Test-Taker Needs to Know

The GRE exam is a difficult test that requires knowledge of many different concepts. One of these concepts is exponents. In this blog post, we will discuss 10 exponent rules that every GRE test-taker needs to know! These rules will help you solve problems more quickly and easily on the test. We hope you find this information helpful! 

 1) Exponents indicate how many times a number is multiplied by itself. For example, the exponent “2” indicates that a number is being multiplied by itself two times. In other words, the number “4” would be written as “42”. 

 2) When a number is raised to the power of 0, the result is always 1. This is because any number multiplied by 0 equals 0.

 3) If a negative exponent is raised to an even power, the result will be positive. For example, (-2)2 = 4. However, if a negative exponent is raised to an odd power, the result will be negative. For example, (-2)3 = -8.

 4) To add exponents, the base numbers must be the same. For example, you cannot add 5^2 and 3^5 because the base numbers are different. However, you can add 5^2 and 5^5 because the base numbers are the same. In this case, you would simply add the exponents: 5^2 + 5^5 = 5^7.

 5) To subtract exponents, again, the base numbers must be the same. So, you could subtract 5^2 from 5^5 like this: 5^5 – 5^2 = 5^3.

 6) To multiply exponents, you simply need to add the exponents together. For example, 5^2 x 5^5 = 5^7.

 7) To divide exponents, you simply need to subtract the exponents. For example, 5^7 ÷ 5^2 = 5^5.

 8) Exponents can be raised to other exponents. In this case, you would multiply the exponents together. For example, (5^2)4 = 5^8.

 9) When a number is raised to a negative exponent, this is the same as taking the reciprocal of the number with a positive exponent. For example, 5-2 = 1/52 = 1/25.

 10) Finally, remember that you can use exponential notation to simplify long multiplication and division problems. For example, instead of multiplying 5 x 5 x 5 x 5, you could simply write this as 5^4. Exponential notation is a great way to save time on the GRE!

We hope you found these exponent rules helpful. If you’re looking for more information on the GRE exam, be sure to check out our other blog posts or sign up for one of our prep courses such as Achievable’s GRE prep course.