Indices - Test yourself!

Question 1

Express in index notation:

Answer 1

Question 2

Expand:

Answer 2

Question 3

True or false?

Answer 3

True!! Negative exponents make me sad and “bring me down”, which means you put the term in the bottom of the fraction. The 3 in the y³ term is positive, so it stays where it is!

Question 4

True or false?

Answer 4

True!! Radicals (like a square root) can be expressed as fractional indices. Notice that we don’t usually write the “2” for a square root. That’s where the 2 in the bottom part of the index comes from

Question 5

True or false?

Answer 5

False! When you multiply identical bases together, you must ADD their indices.

Question 6

True or false?

Answer 6

False! You can combine identical bases ONLY when you are multiplying or dividing them

Question 7

True or false?

Answer 7

True! The y term inside the bracket has a (secret) index of 1. Both x² and y are being raised to the power of 3. This index “distributes” with the indices inside the bracket (as long as everything inside the bracket is multiplied or divided).

Question 8

True or false?

Answer 8

False! Only IDENTICAL bases can be combined, and their indices are added together. If the bases are different they CAN’T be combined.