We use exponents as a shorthand way of writing calculations such as:
31 x 31 x 31 x 31 x 31
This is a multiplication of the base number 31 by itself five times and so can be written as:
315
5 is the exponent
NB This is not the same as 31 x 5
When there are two base numbers, such as 31 and 41, we deal with them separately.
31 x 31 x 31 x 41 x 41
This is a multiplication of the base number 31 by itself three times and the base number 41 by itself twice, so can be written as:
313 x 412
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