Exponents represent repeated multiplication of a base number. An exponent tells how many times the base number is used as a factor. For example, in the expression 53, 5 is the base and 3 is the exponent, meaning 5 x 5 x 5 or 125. Any number to the 0 power equals 1, and any number to the 1st power equals itself. It is a common mistake to think the exponent indicates the number of factors instead of the number of times the base is used as a factor.