Powers of Decimals

When we raise a number which is less than 1 to a given power, the answer is smaller than the original number.

Example

Work out (0.02)⁴

Answer

We must calculate 0.02 x 0.02 x 0.02 x 0.02

We know that 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16

But now we must divide each of the 2s by 100

and therefore we must divide the 16 by 100000000.

16 ÷ 100000000 = 0.00000016

So  0.02⁴ = 0.00000016

Similarly  0.2³ = 0.008 and 0.04³ = 0.000064

Want a bit more help with this before you begin? Why not watch this short video?