The key is understanding the difference between multiplication and raising something to a power. If you are asked to take 6 and multiply it by 2, you are really doubling 6. In other words, 6 times 2 is like saying you have two 6's. Together, two 6's make 12. So, 6*2 = 12. When you take 6 and square it (raise it to the power of 2), you are taking 6 and multiplying it by itself. So, 62= 6*6 = 36. Using the same logic, you can see how this works for other powers. 61 = 6 62 = 6*6 63 = 6*6*6 64 = 6*6*6*6 etc... Hope this helps
I thought that I would help explain the laws of exponents a little more for you. It might help you in your future studies.
Using an exponent just saves you the time of writing out lots of multiples. In your example, 6^2=6×6 You can also solve problems involving exponents on a graphing calculator by entering the base, followed by the caret key ^, enter the power, and then press enter. In your case, you would enter it into your calculator like this, 6^2.
For future reference, just remember The exponent tells you how many times you need to multiply the number And if you see a negative exponent, it just means to divide 1 by the number, because the opposite of multiplying is dividing (for example, if you had 6^(-2), it would look like this, 6^(-2)= 1 ÷ 6 ÷ 6=0.027778 or enter it into your graphing calculator like so, 6^+/-2 You may have a +/- button or just a – button. Remember, this is not the subtract button!
