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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by hypertown@lemmy.world to c/memes@lemmy.ml
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[-] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I know I'm bad at math but I don't understand how 2x0=0 but 2^0=1

How are they different answers when they're both essentially multiplying 2 by zero?

Someone with a bigger brain please explain this

Edit: I greatly appreciate all the explanations but all they've done is solidify the fact that I'll never be good at math 😭

[-] jendrik@discuss.tchncs.de 26 points 1 year ago

subtracting one from Exponent means halving (when the base is two):

2⁴ = 16 2³ = 8 2² = 4 2¹ = 2 2⁰ = 1

It's a simple continuation of the pattern and required for mathemarical rules to work.

[-] uberrice@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is confidently wrong.

3^0 is also 1. 2738394728^0 is also 1.

Edit: just saw that technically you're correct - sure.

IF base 2, Exponent reduction equals to halving - dividing by 2.

For x^y reducing y by one is equal to dividing by x, then we have the proof it always works.

[-] Globulart@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

But that's because for 3 the sequence is dividing by 3 not 2.

81, 27, 9, 3, 1, 1/3, 1/9, etc.

3^4, 3^3, 3^2, 3^1, 3^0, 3^(-1), 3^(-2), etc.

You're not always halving, but the method is the same and it sometimes helps people understand the concept more easily.

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this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
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