Exponents

Using the rule for exponents (Rule 4) to evaluate aⁿ/aⁿ, then

This interpretation is consistent with the rule . Therefore, when a is not equal to 0. Any number to the zero power equals one.

Example:

Negative Exponents

The rules for positive exponents apply to negative exponents. a^-n is defined as follows:

For example, as shown earlier. If is written as , and the rules for multiplication are applied to this, . Thus, writing and applying the rules for multiplication yields the same results as 1 and applying the rules of division. an

Examples: