Key learning points

1. A calculator can be helpful to explore what happens when the exponent is zero or negative.
2. Any term with an exponent of zero is equal to one.
3. A negative exponent tells you how many times you need to multiply the reciprocal of the base.
4. Negative exponents appear when writing very small numbers in standard form.

Keywords

• Reciprocal - A reciprocal is the multiplicative inverse of any non-zero number. Any non-zero number multiplied by its reciprocal is equal to 1

• Indices - An exponent is a number positioned above and to the right of a base value. It indicates repeated multiplication. An alternative word for this is index (plural indices).

Common misconception