GRE Special exponents are 0 and 1. Really?

When a number is raised to power 0 and 1, the results are very special. Well not really. The results are actually very predictable and therefore you should remember these rules:

0 as exponent

Any number, when raised to power "0", always results in number "1".

Example:

Any number when raised to power zero is always "1"

, where is any number.

1 as exponent

Any number, when raised to power "1" always results in the same number

Example:

Armed with this knowledge, let’s solve some problems involving these special exponents :)

Example:

Which of the following is a simplified form of the expression ?

A) 

B) 

C) 

D) 

E) 

Solution:

Step 1: Let’s evaluate the expression inside the parenthesis

We know that anything raised to power "0" is 1 and anything raised to power "1" is the number itself.  Our expression becomes:

Step 2: Simplifying further:

C is the correct answer.