^ is the symbol denoting an exponent on a keyboard.
\(6\text{^}3=6^3 \)
\(2\text{^}12=2^{12} \)
\(9\text{^}2=9^2 \)
What does an exponent mean? Well, I'll explain with a picture:
Source: http://www.solving-math-problems.com/image-files/num_exp_base-blue.png
The exponent indicates the amount of times to perform the multiplication operation to the base. In the picture above, the exponent indicates to use the "2" three times in multiplication. For example,
\(2^3=2*2*2=8\)
Notice how the base, 2, is multiplied by itself three times, which the exponent indicates.
Let's try another example:
\(3^2\)
Don't get confused now! Let's take it down step-by-step.
First, we must figure out the base. The base is 3. The exponent is 2. Therefore, we must multiply 3 by itself two times.
\(3^2=3*3=9\)
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