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? asked in Science & MathematicsMathematics · 4 weeks ago

What are the positive and negative indices?

2 Answers

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  • 4 weeks ago

    An index is another name for an exponent.

    A positive exponent tells us how many times to multiply a base number, and a negative exponent tells us how many times to divide a base number. When you have a negative exponent, you can flip it to the other side of a fraction and change the sign. In other words:x⁻ⁿ = 1/(xⁿ)For example:2⁻⁴ = 1/(2⁴) = 1/16

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