NumberKey Facts

Understanding Powers and Roots

Part of Powers & RootsGCSE Mathematics

This key facts covers Understanding Powers and Roots within Powers & Roots for GCSE Mathematics. Revise Powers & Roots in Number for GCSE Mathematics with 15 exam-style questions and 22 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 2 of 13 in this topic. Use this key facts to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

Topic position

Section 2 of 13

Practice

15 questions

Recall

22 flashcards

Understanding Powers and Roots

  • Power/Index: Shows how many times to multiply: 2⁴ = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16
  • Base: The number being multiplied: in 5³, the base is 5
  • Square: Power of 2 (area of a square)
  • Cube: Power of 3 (volume of a cube)
  • Square root: What number squared gives this? √25 = 5
  • Cube root: What number cubed gives this? ∛8 = 2

Keep building this topic

Read this section alongside the surrounding pages in Powers & Roots. That gives you the full topic sequence instead of a single isolated revision point.

Practice Questions for Powers & Roots

What is the value of 2⁻³?

  • A. -8
  • B. -6
  • C.
  • D.
1 markfoundation

Explain why x⁻¹ = 1/x

2 markshigher

Quick Recall Flashcards

Cubes: 1³ to 5³
1³ = 1 2³ = 8 3³ = 27 4³ = 64 5³ = 125
Powers of 10
10¹ = 10 10² = 100 10³ = 1,000 10⁴ = 10,000 10⁵ = 100,000 10⁶ = 1,000,000 Pattern: n zeros after 1

Want to test your knowledge?

PrepWise has 15 exam-style questions and 22 flashcards for Powers & Roots — with adaptive difficulty and instant feedback.

Join Alpha