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Glossary

Powers: GCSE Maths Definition

Mark Curtis

Written by: Mark Curtis

Reviewed by: Dan Finlay

Published

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1 minutes

Contents

  1. 1. What are powers?
  2. 2. Powers revision resources to ace your exams

What are powers?

The power of a number is the amount of times you need to repeatedly multiply that number by itself, written in superscript (to the top right of the number). For example,

5 cubed equals 5 cross times 5 cross times 5 equals 125

The big number on the bottom is called the base and the small number on the top is called the the power (or the index, or the exponent). In the example above, 5 is the base, 3 is the power, and 5 to the power of 3 is equal to 125.

Powers are used a lot in algebra, such as x cubed, and it is possible to have powers that are negative or fractional.

Powers revision resources to ace your exams

Powers are covered in our revision notes on Powers, Roots & Indices and Algebraic Roots & Indices from GCSE Maths. You can also have a go at our related exam questions and flashcards to test your understanding. Don’t forget to check out the GCSE maths past papers for more general exam revision.

Explore our GCSE Maths revision resources

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Author
Reviewer
Mark Curtis

Author: Mark Curtis

Expertise: Maths

Mark graduated twice from the University of Oxford: once in 2009 with a First in Mathematics, then again in 2013 with a PhD (DPhil) in Mathematics. He has had nine successful years as a secondary school teacher, specialising in A-Level Further Maths and running extension classes for Oxbridge Maths applicants. Alongside his teaching, he has written five internal textbooks, introduced new spiralling school curriculums and trained other Maths teachers through outreach programmes.

Dan Finlay

Author: Dan Finlay

Expertise: Maths Lead

Dan graduated from the University of Oxford with a First class degree in mathematics. As well as teaching maths for over 8 years, Dan has marked a range of exams for Edexcel, tutored students and taught A Level Accounting. Dan has a keen interest in statistics and probability and their real-life applications.

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