How do you manually do a

fractional exponent?
Started by brad89, Jun 02, 2005

Page 1 of 2

LocationDanvers, IL

Posted 2 June 2005 - 07:28 AM

I understand exponents, I eventually
figured out how you manually do
negative exponents, but how do you
do something like: 3^.4? How do you
do something like: abs[3]^3? Can
you multiply together absolute
values? I am only in algebra right
now, not even geometry, but
nobody else even cares how they
do as long as they pass, but i want to
understand this stuff!

NEXT

Please log in to reply

#2

mezarashi
Atom

27 replies to this topic

#1

brad89

Baryon

Senior Members

LocationEarth

Posted 2 June 2005 - 09:28 AM

Hi.

Senior Members

377 posts

168 posts

First of all, I'd like to note that not all

results of a fractional power will be
rational, meaning you may not be

able to solve it by hand, or it would

require you to do infinite repetitions.
Nonetheless, given that your answer
is rational or you don't mind having
an irrational component in your
solution, then these are the steps.
To do fractional powers manually, it
is advisable that you first convert
them to proper fractions. For
example 3^(0.4) can be expressed
as 3^(4/10).
This is easy to do if the number is non
repeating. If the number does
repeat however, a universal method
to do this which I learnt is to multiply
the decimal by 100, subtract by itself,
and divide by 99. Formula being:
fraction = (100x - x)/99 = 99x/99
Back to the topic. A fractional
exponent is basically a root. For
example, square root 4 can be
expressed as 4^(1/2), cube root 4 as
4^(1/3) and etc. I guess that was the
key piece of information you were
looking for. In anycase, all the
properties used for exponents can
be used on fractional exponents as
well, so:

that number down into something

you know, for example if you have:
64^(1/3) = 8^(2/3) = 2^(3*(2/3)) =
2^2 = 4
You will also find cases where you
break down the numbers and you
get something ugly which is neither
irrational nor integer. In these cases,
the only way I know is to resort to
iteration, meaning guess the answer,
check, adjust, check, adjust until
your answer is to an acceptable
level of precision. There are formulas
that can help you get in the right
direction and more quickly, but
these are usually used in the realm of
programming where computers do
the work for us. Conclusion is,
fractional exponents are nasty, and
even more, fractional exponents of
fractional numbers !!!

#3

h=-16T
Baryon

4^1.5 = 4^(3/2) = 4^(1 + 1/2) =

(4^1)x(4^1/2) = 4*2 = 8
There will be times where the answer
is not rational as I mentioned like:
2^(5/2) = 2^(2 + 1/2) = (2^2)x(2^1/2)
= 4*(square root 2)
If you have a large number, the
general strategy may be to factor

Senior Members

188 posts

LocationNE Lincs, England

Posted 2 June 2005 - 02:05 PM

You could use the Binomial theorem
for non-natural powers. Can't be
arsed to quote it for you, do a
google.

abs[3]^3 is the same as 3^3, which is

27. If it was abs[-3]^3 then you would
make it positive and have 3^3
again.

"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity" Thoreau

"Time is an illusion; lunch doubly so"Ford Prefect.

#5

Dave
boing

-Dave-

#4

Ducky Havok
Baryon

Administrators

Posted 2 June 2005 - 02:46 PM

Senior Members

5,080 posts

141 posts

LocationIn a perpendicular universe

Posted 2 June 2005 - 02:06 PM
On the absolute power thing, just
make the number positive and raise
it to that power. Like your question,

h=-16T said
You could use the Binomial theorem
for non-natural powers. Can't be
arsed to quote it for you, do a
google.
Trouble is, you have to pick the right
series. For example,
only
converges for
. So if you want

to work out
x = 1.

something like this: 3^4!. I thought

you just do the factorial than use
that as your exponent. But then, I
realized that you can't because
PEMDAS says you do Exponents first,
multiplication second. Would you do
3^24 or 81!? Would it even be either
of these? Math gets really confusing
sometimes!

, you can't just stick in

Dave
SFN Administrator

Blog and photoblog | Get on

IRC! | #sfn statistics
#7

Ducky Havok
Baryon

#6

brad89
Baryon

Senior Members

Senior Members

168 posts

LocationDanvers, IL

Posted 2 June 2005 - 11:45 PM

Thanks, that really helps. All I really
needed was to know that x^1/2 is
the same as [sqrt x]. But thanks for
going into greater detail, now i
understand it. As for the absolute
value question, I was an idiot.
Anyway, how exactly could you do

141 posts

LocationIn a perpendicular universe

Posted 3 June 2005 - 01:23 AM
it would be 3^24... instead of just
thinking of 4! as just 4*3*2*1, think of it
as (4*3*2*1)

"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity" Thoreau