Product of Powers, Power of a Power, and Power of a Product

Exponential Expressions

think iconstudent thinkingIn your earlier studies of exponential expressions, you learned that the base is the value that is multiplied, and that the exponent informs you of the number of times the base is used as a factor.

For example, in the exponential expression 34, the base is 3 and the exponent is 4. Therefore,

34 = 3 · 3 · 3 · 3

How about the exponential expression 52 · 53? How many 5s should be used as a factor in this product?