When we want to find the sum or difference of two exponential expressions, they must be “like terms,” meaning that they must have the same base and the same exponent; otherwise, we can’t add or subtract them. Multiplication and division of exponential expressions is a little different. When we multiply and divide, we need only the bases to be the same. We do not need the exponents to be the same.
Read MoreThink about this rule as the “power to a power” rule. In other words, what happens when we raise an exponential expression (a base raised to some power) to another power (when one exponential expression becomes the base of another exponential expression)?
Read MoreThis is the rule we use when we’re dividing one exponential expression by another exponential expression. The quotient rule tells us that we have to subtract the exponent in the denominator from the exponent in the numerator, but the bases have to be the same.
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