How do you simplify 9^0?

1 Answer
Sep 9, 2015

9^0 = 1

Explanation:

Anything raised to 0 is equal to 1.

To see why, let's first consider how we increase the exponent of a number, by multiplying.

9^1 = 9
9^2 = 9 xx 9
9^3 = 9 xx 9 xx9
...

So, to decrease the exponent of a number, we divide.

9^3 = 9 xx 9 xx 9

9^2 = (9 xx 9 xx9)-:9= 9xx 9

9^1 = (9 xx 9)-:9= 9

And if we take it one step further:

9^0 = 9 -:9= 1

We can actually take it even further, and end up with negative exponents.

9^(-1) = 1 -:9= 1/9

9^(-2) = 1/9 -:9= 1/81

...

So you can see why 9^0 = 1 .