Rational Exponents 2

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Taught by YourMathGal
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
6352 views | 1 rating
Part of video series
Meets NCTM Standards:
Lesson Summary:

In this Rational Exponents 2 lesson, the instructor explains the meaning of a fractional exponent and provides examples using different bases, including negative and positive numbers. By following the flower power rule, where the denominator represents the root and the numerator represents the power, students can easily solve problems with rational exponents. The lesson also covers negative exponents and the formal definition of rational exponents.

Lesson Description:

Part 2 covers the meaning of a fractional exponent, and provides examples.

More free YouTube videos by Julie Harland are organized at http://yourmathgal.com

Questions answered by this video:
  • What are rational exponents?
  • What does b^1/n mean?
  • Why is b^1/n equal to the nth root of b?
  • Why does 8^1/3 equal the cube root of 8 which equals 2?
  • Why happens if you have a fractional exponent with a number other than 1 in the numerator?
  • What does 8^2/3 mean?
  • What does b^m/n mean?
  • Why does b^m/n mean the nth root of b raised to the m power?
  • How can a flower help you understand rational exponents?
  • How can flower power with the power in the flower and roots underground help you remember that the power is in the numerator of the fraction and the root is in the denominator?
  • How can you find 9^3/2?
  • How do you deal with negative fractional exponents?
  • What does b^-m/n equal?
  • What is -16^3/4?
  • What is 8^-2/3?
  • What is (-27)^4/3?
  • How do you compute the answer of a fraction to a fractional exponent?
  • What does (4/9)^3/2 equal?
  • Staff Review

    • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
    This lesson continues the explanation of fractional exponents, but this time, the fractions have a number other than 1 in the numerator. Several example calculations are shown and explained in this video. A very unique way of remembering which part of the fraction is for the power and which part is for the root is shown with a flower diagram. This works very well for remembering how to do these computations.