Working with Numbers on the Graphing Calculator

Things to keep in mind when using your graphing calculator with exponents (powers):

To SQUARE a value: (or raise to a power of 2)


Squaring can be accomplished by using the "squared" key or by raising the value to the power of 2 with the use of the ^ (carrot) symbol.

To CUBE a value: (or raise to a power of 3)

To raise to a power of three, you can utilize a special "cubing" function under the MATH key #3, or you can use the ^ (carrot) symbol.

To RAISE to ANY value:

** Notice the need for parentheses when raising to a fractional power.

To raise to any power,
utilize the ^ (carrot) symbol.

Notice how raising to the zero power created an answer of 1.

Notice the need of parentheses when raising a negative number to a power. Remember, -3⁴ is not the same as (-3)⁴.