Roots, Exponentiation

Not the Alex Haley novel but an important math function!

This expression is read as 'the square root of seven'.

This expression is read as 'the cube root of seventeen'.

This expression is read as 'the fourth root of x'

This expression is read as 'the fifth root of y'

In expressions like these the

is called the radical

and the

is called the index.

In the expression above the 10 is called the base and the 3 is called the exponent or power.

The expression above is written as 'ten to the (power) four',

'ten to the fourth power', or 'ten to the fourth'.

This is read as 'ten to the (power) minus five',

'ten to the negative fifth power', or 'ten to the minus five'.

BUT

this is usually read as 'ten squared'

and

is usually read as 'ten cubed'.