Using an index or power
An index, or a power, is the small floating number that goes next to a number or letter. The plural of index is indices.
Indices show how many times a number or letter has been multiplied by itself.
Here is a number written in index form:
2 is the base number and 4 is the index or power.
24 is a short way of writing \(2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 2\).
\(a^2\) (read as '\(a\) squaredâ) is a short way of writing \(a \times a\). \(a\) has been multiplied by itself.
\(a^4\) (read as â\(a\) to the power of 4') is a short way of writing \(a \times a \times a \times a\). \(a\) has been multiplied by itself four times, and so on.