Indices

An introduction to Indices

• Indices are equations where you have two numbers with exponents and an equation in the middle. The symbol in the middle can be a Plus, Minus, Divide or Multiplied. ("^" simply means the number is an exponent)
• For example:
• 2² x 2²

Indices with a "x" symbol

• For the easiest indices equations, you will get a question like so:
• 4^2 x 4^3
• These are the easiest questions to solve. First make sure the numbers are the same and add them, add the exponents together to get a simple answer: 4^5

Indices with a "÷" symbol

• For these equations, you will have a similar process to multiplied indices. For example:
• 3^5 ÷ 3^2
• Similar to multiplied, all you have to do is make sure the numbers are the same and then subtract the small exponent from the bigger one to get: 3^3
• All you have to do is subtract the exponent. The number 3 remains the same

Indices with a "+" symbol

• This is where is gets a bit more complicated. For ALL indices, if the base numbers are different, you must solve the equation from scratch. For example:
• 5^2 + 3^5
• As you can see, the two numbers 5 and 3 are different. To do this you solve the equation like a normal one and then add. This turns into:
• 25 + 243
• From there, you simply add 25 and 243 to give you your answer of 268

Indices with a "-" symbol

• These question are exactly like adding except you subtract. For example:
• 4^2 - 3^2
• To solve this, you simple complete the equation. This will give you 16 and 9. Then, simple subtract 9 from 16 to give you your answer of 7

Key notes

• Important info to remember:
• o If the two base numbers are unequal, complete the equation by using the exponent and adding the two results
• o If there are more than 2 numbers to add, subtract, divide, multiply, complete the equations individually and add, subtract, divide or multiply them together, based on what the question says