It is interesting to note that if we continue the pattern of the exponents, the tenths' column corresponds to 10–1, the hundredths' column corresponds to 10–2, etc. This is consistent with the properties of exponents and operations with integers, which we will discuss further when we discuss integers. Note that the negative exponent could be interpreted as the reciprocal
of the value, e.g., the reciprocal of 10 is 
or 10–1 is the reciprocal of 10 since 
. Another example, using the properties of exponents 
is the reciprocal of 100. Note that this is consistent with what we know the column values must be.
return to top | previous page | next page
Content ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
Date last modified: June 24, 2010.
Created with SoftChalk LessonBuilder
By Kris Montis and Timothy Peil
