Since there are only a finite number of letters in the alphabet we are sometimes forced to use subscripts on a single letter to distinguish between different constants. , for constants and the latter letters of the alphabet. It is an agreed custom to use the first letters of the alphabet, such as a, b, c, d. A constant is a symbol or letter that stands for just one particular real number during the discussion, even if we do not specify which real number it stands for. The term a^2 is read “ a square,” a^3 is read “ a cubed,” a^4 is read " a to the fourth power," and in general a^n is read “ a to the nth power.”Ī variable is a letter that takes on dmerent values from a given collection of real numbers during a given discussion. In the symbol a^n,a is called Hie base and n is called the exponent. If a is any real number, then a^1=a, a^2=aa, a^3=aaa and, in general, if n is any positive integer, the symbol a^n is defined by the equation
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