How do you simplify 823?

2 Answers
Jul 24, 2016

=4

Explanation:

823 can be written as
382
=364
=3(4)(4)(4)
=4

Jun 30, 2017

4

Explanation:

One of the laws of indices states: xmn=n(xm)=(nx)m

Therefore 823 can be written as 3(82)or(38)2

I prefer to use the second form because it uses smaller numbers - the root is found first and then that is squared.

38=2and22=4

So: (38)2=22=4

Consider a question such as 3235

5(323) would mean finding 323 first ... ouch!

(532)3 would mean finding 532 first. That is 2

(532)3=23=8