Teacher Guide: Exponent Rules & Polynomials

2010
Nick Hershman
nhershman@riverdale.k12.or.us

1 “Manipulating Powers”

Key Vocab

Expression baseexponent is a power.

Example: 43 = 4 · 4 · 4

label base, exponent, and 4 as a factor 3 times.

1.1 Positive Exponents

Prod of Powers: (Add exponents) 4a9 b6 4 a9 b 6 2a6 b5
Example: = · · =
6a3 b 6 a3 b 3
Example: am · an = am+n
”Power of a Quotient” . . .
Power of Powers: (Multiply exponents)  3
3 3 3 3 33
Example: = · · = 3
Example: (am · bn )y = amy · bny 7 7 7 7 7
2
Example: (−4mb3 )2 = (−4)2 m2 b6 = 16m2 b6 3x3 y 5

Example:
5xy 3
Introduce Division: ”Quotient of Powers”
Question: What Property does this example remind
a8 you of? “distribute exponent to all bases”
Example: = a5
a3

Check in: Confident with these ideas? Zero Powers and Negative Exponents

1.2 Negative Exponents

Zero Exponents

a4
Example: = a0 . . . that’s just our Quotient of Powers Rule
a4
Evaluate the truth of the following assertions:

1. if a = 0 then a0 = 0
2. if a = 0 then a0 does not exist
→ Assertion: If a 6= 0, then a0 = 1. Note 00 does not compute/exist

Example: (−4.8)0 = 1

Negative Exponents

1 1
Example: 2−3 = 3
and −3 = 23 . “xy is the reciprocal of x−y
2 2
1 1 1
Example: 2−4 = = , likewise −2 = 52
24 16 5

4x5 y 8
  5  8  
x8
 
4 x y 1 5 3

1
Example: = = x x =
8x−3 y 9 8 x−3 y9 2 y 2y
 −3
25x−3 y −10
Example: General strategy: Order of Operations. First simplify within grouping symbols,
75x−12 y −4
then apply exponents. Note, we will not simplify powers larger than about 1000 by hand, expressing these
terms as powers is perfectly fine.

x9
 −3  −3
25x−3 y −10
= (1)
75x−12 y −4 3y 6

x−27
= (2)
3−3 y −18

33 y 18
= (3)
x27

2 Scientific Notation

Definition & Overview

Scientific Notation: a × 10n where 1 ≤ a < 10 and n is an integer

Convert From Scientific Notation to Standard Form

Example: Mr. H is 6.8 × 101 inches tall. 6.8 × 101 = 6.8 × 10 = 68. So I’m 68 inches tall.

1
Example: An ant might be about 3.1 × 10−2 inches tall. 3.1 × 10−2 = 3.1 × 2 = 3.1 × .01 = .031. An
10
ant is .031 inches tall.

Question: How many times larger than an Ant is Mr. H?

Answer:
6.8 × 101 6.8 101
= ·
3.1 × 10−2 3.1 10−2
≈ 2.19354 × 103
≈ 2, 193.54 times larger
Tip: Notice the relationship between the exponent (n) and the number of places the decimal point moves

Convert From Standard Form to Scientific Notation

Example: 348.38 = 3.4838 × 102

Example: .0000435 = 4.35 × 10−5

Question: How do did I decide on the value of the exponent?

Working backwards with the decimal place rule we defined above / noticing that the original answer was tiny
or huge / other reasons?

× and ÷ with Scientific Notation

Example: 2.25 × 104

4 × 105

2.25 × 104 4 × 105 = (2.25 × 4) 104 × 105

= 9 × 109

3.5 × 10−4
Example:
1.75 × 10−12

  
3.5 × 10−4 3.5 10−4
=
1.75 × 10−12 1.75 10−12
= 2 × 108

Shortcuts

Notice:

Place Power of 10
ones 100
tens 101
hundreds 102
thousands 103
ten-thousands 104
hundred-thousands 105
... ...

Example: 4.85 billion = 4.85 × 109

3 Polynomials ax2 + bx + c

Vocab & Intro

Polynomial A polynomial is a monomial or a sum of monomials

Binomial sum of two monomials
Trinomial sum of three monomials
Polynomials with more than three terms do not have special names, and are just referred to as polynomials

Degree of a Monomial the sum of exponents of all its variables.

Degree of a Polynomial the greatest degree of any term in the polynomial.

Example: 3xy 3 z has degree 1 + 3 + 1 = 5.

Example: 3x2 + 4x2 y 3 + 4bc2 consists of three monomials with degrees, 2, 5, 3, the greatest degree of any
of these is 5, so we say this is a 5th degree polynomial.

The degree of a polynomial can effect it’s shape. Do you notice a pattern?

y=x y = x3 − 3x2 + 2x y = x4 − 6x3 + 11x2 − 6x y = x5 − 10x4 + 35x3 − 50x2 + 24x

Tip: There’s a Geogebra file: manip-polynomialdegree.ggb that illustrates these.

+ and − with Polynomials

Example: 2x2 + 3x − 5 + 4x2 − 2x + 8 = 6x2 + x + 3

Example: −3x2 + 8x − 13 − 4x2 + 16x − 25 = −7x2 − 8x + 12

Remember that you can subtract by adding the opposite.

Example: (3 − 5) − (−2 + 4) = (3 − 5) + (2 − 4) . . .

× with Polynomials aka The Distributive Property is Your Friend, FOIL can be your acquaintance. . .

Example: 2x(5x + 7) = 10x2 + 14x

Visual: School has a square garden, but intends to expand the dimensions by two and three feet. What
will the new area of the garden be? Find the area of a rectangle with sides x + 2 and x + 3

Example: (x + 2)(x + 3) = x2 + 5x + 6

Example: (x − 4)(x + 3) = x2 − x − 12

Tip: FOIL may help you remember how to multiply binomials

Example: (a + b)(c + d) = ac + ad + bc + bd in order: first, outer, inner, last

Example: (x2 + x + 3)(x + 2) can’t use FOIL, but follow a similar strategy . . .

Important Patterns

Square of a Sum:

Example: (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2

Example: (x + 5)2 = x2 + 10x + 25

Square of a Difference:

Example: (a − b)2 = a2 − 2ab + b2

Example: (x − 4)2 = x2 − 8x + 16

Product of a Sum and Difference:

Example: (a + b)(a − b) = a2 − b2

Example: (x − 3)(x + 3) = x2 − 9