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Is 2<sup>33</sup> = 213<sup>3</sup>?

Exponents and powers are used to show very large numbers or very small numbers in a simplified manner. For example, if we have to show 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 in a simple way, then we can write it as 24, where 2 is the base and 4 is the exponent. The whole expression 24 is said to be power.

Exponents and Powers

Power is a value or an expression that represents repeated multiplication of the same number or factor. The number of times the base is multiplied by itself is the value of the exponent. For example,



An exponent of a number represents the number of times the number is multiplied by itself. For example, 2 is multiplied by itself for n times,

2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × …n times = 2n



The above expression, 2n, is said as 2 raised to the power n. Therefore, exponents are also called power or sometimes indices.

General Form of Exponents

Exponent represents that how many times a number should be multiplied by itself to get the result. Thus any number ‘b’ raised to power ‘p’ can be expressed as:

bp =  {b × b × b × b × …  × b} p times

Here b is any number and p is a natural number.

Laws of Exponents

Let ‘b’ is any number or integer (positive or negative) and ‘p1’,  ‘p2’ are positive integers, denoting the power to the bases.

bp1 × bp2 = b(p1 + p2)

bp1 ÷ bp2 = bp1/ bp2 = b(p1 – p2)

b-p = 1/bp

Basic Rules of Exponents

There are certain basic rules defined for exponents in order to solve the exponential expressions along with the other mathematical operations, for example, if there are the product of two exponents, it can be simplified to make the calculation easier and is known as product rule, let’s look at some of the basic rules of exponents,

Is 2{33) = (213)3

Solution: 

LHS = 233, RHS = 2133

Let’s solve both sides,

Actually, it’s not required to solve any of the sides, as RHS is 213 i.e. odd, and powering it odd times will lead to an odd value. for example 33 = 27 i.e. odd

And LHS has a base 2 and any power of 2 will always be an even value for example 23 = 8, 25 = 32.

So, if LHS is an even value and RHS is an odd value, both can’t be equal.

So, 233 is not equal to 2133. It can also be written as 2{33) ≠ (213)3

Similar Problems 

Question 1: Simplify (-4a2/b3)3

Solution:

Here one can write above equation as,

= {(-4a2)3/ ( b3)3}

Now,

= {(-4)3 × (a2)3} / (b3)3

= {(-64) × (a2 × 3)} / b3 × 3 {Power Rule ⇢ (an)m = an × m}

= -64a6/b9

Question 2: What is the product of (7x2y3) and (3x5y8)?

Solution:

The product of  (7x2y3) and (3x5y8)

 = (7x2y3) × (3x5y8)

 = (7x2y3) × (3x5y8)

 = 21 x2x5 × y3y8

 = 21x2 + 5 × y3 + 8 {Product Rule ⇢ an × am = an + m}

 = 21x7y11

Question 3: What is x9 divided by x3?

Solution:

Here given x9 divided by x3

And use {Quotient Rule ⇢ an / am = an – m}

So write it as x9 / x3

= x9 – 3

= x6

Question 4: Solve (22) × (32)

Solution:

Here when bases are different and powers are same. So as per the product rule we can write as an × bn = (a × b)n

22 × 32

= (2 × 3)2

= 62

= 36


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