Exponents are commonly used to describe very large or small values, such as the memory of computers measured in gigabytes, the strength of earthquakes on a logarithmic scale, distances between astronomical bodies measured in hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and the rapid growth of bacteria populations in the hundreds of thousands.

1. Exponents in the Real World
Exponents are used in a variety of
ways, most often when talking
about very big or very small things.

2. COMPUTERS
Exponents are
often used to
describe a
computer's
memory. For
example, 1
gig(abyte) of RAM
means that you
9
have 1 x 10 bytes.

3. EARTHQUAKES
Exponents are used
to measure the
strength of earth-
quakes. A level 1
earthquake is
1
1 x 10 , a level 2
earthquake is
1 x 102, a level 3 is
1 x 103, etc.

4. LARGE DISTANCES
Exponents are used
to measure large
distances. For
example, the
distance from the
Earth to the Moon
is 1 X 105 km.

5. COUNTING LARGE NUMBERS
Exponents are used
when counting
things that grow
very quickly. For
example, the
number of bacteria
in a single sneeze
4
is between 1 x 10
and 1 x 105