Any nonzero number raised to the power of 0 equals what?

Any nonzero number raised to the power of 0 equals what?

• A. The base
• B. The number 0
• C. Undefined
• D. 1

Answer: (D)

Any nonzero number raised to the zero power equals 1. This comes from the rules of exponents: a^m / a^m = a^(m−m) = a^0, and a^m / a^m is 1 for any nonzero a. So a^0 must be 1. Another way to see it is that a^n means multiplying a by itself n times; if n is zero, there are no factors to multiply, and the product of zero factors is the multiplicative identity, 1. It’s not the base, and it’s not undefined or zero for nonzero bases. For example, 3^0 = 1 and (-5)^0 = 1.

Any nonzero number raised to the zero power equals 1. This comes from the rules of exponents: a^m / a^m = a^(m−m) = a^0, and a^m / a^m is 1 for any nonzero a. So a^0 must be 1. Another way to see it is that a^n means multiplying a by itself n times; if n is zero, there are no factors to multiply, and the product of zero factors is the multiplicative identity, 1. It’s not the base, and it’s not undefined or zero for nonzero bases. For example, 3^0 = 1 and (-5)^0 = 1.