Operations with powers

Let's now see how to manage the common operations with powers:

Powers product

If we want to do the product of two powers with the same base, for example $$4^3$$ and $$4^6$$, we will do the following:$$$\begin{array}{rcl} 4^3&=& 4\cdot 4 \cdot 4 \\ 4^6 &=& 4 \cdot 4 \cdot 4\cdot 4\cdot 4 \cdot 4\end{array}$$$Therefore, if we multiply them we will have: $$$4^3\cdot 4^6=(4 \cdot 4 \cdot 4)\cdot (4 \cdot 4\cdot 4 \cdot 4\cdot 4 \cdot 4)=4^9=4^{3+6}$$$In general, if we want to do the product of two powers with the same base, the result is a power with the same base, but the exponent is the sum of the exponents. This is: $$a^n\cdot a^m=a^{n+m}$$.

Power quotient:

Similar to the product, it is possible to calculate the ratio of two powers of the same base. For example:$$$\displaystyle \frac{4^6}{4^2}=\frac{4 \cdot 4 \cdot 4\cdot 4\cdot 4 \cdot 4}{4 \cdot 4}=4 \cdot 4\cdot 4 \cdot 4=4^{6-2}$$$ Therefore we say that, in general, the procedure is:$$\displaystyle \frac{a^n}{a^m}=a^{n-m}$$. Let's illustrate this in some calculations:

Power of a product:

If we want to do the following operation $$(3 \cdot 4)^3$$ we observe that $$(3 \cdot 4)^3=(3 \cdot 4)\cdot (3 \cdot 4) \cdot (3\cdot 4)=(3 \cdot 3\cdot 3)\cdot (4 \cdot 4 \cdot 4)= 3^3 \cdot 4^3$$. To calculate the result we have two options, either multiply 3 by 4 and cube the product (raise to the power three) : $$(3 \cdot 4)^3=(12)^3=1728$$ or cube each of the factors of the product: $$3^3=27$$ and $$4^3=64$$, therefore the product will be $$27 \cdot 64=1728$$. In general, then, the power of a product is equal to the product of the power. That is, $$(a \cdot b)^m=a^m \cdot b^m$$. For instance:

Power of a ratio:

Similar to the product, in general $$\displaystyle \Bigg(\frac{a}{b}\Bigg)^m = \frac{a^m}{b^m}$$. Let's see some examples:

Power of a power:

To calculate expressions like, for example $$\Big(2^3\Big)^5$$, we can also see it as: $$\Big(2^3\Big)^5=(2^3) \cdot (2^3) \cdot (2^3) \cdot (2^3) \cdot (2^3)=2^{3+3+3+3+3}=2^{15}$$ Therefore we realize that in doing a power of a power, the exponents are multiplied and the base is the same. In general, this is expressed as: $$\Big( a^n\Big)^m= a^{n\cdot m}$$ Let's see some examples:

Using all these properties of the powers, we can now work with more comfortable expressions when we need to calculate the product of a number by itself many times. To assimilate completely the concept, let's see a few examples that use all the properties: