Fractional exponents and flowers

There’s this misconception that you have to learn new stuff, memorize all.the.facts, or sacrifice chickens under the full moon in order to get a high score on the SAT or ACT math section.

That’s simply not true.

In fact, I spend more of my time showing kids how not to mess up what they DO know, than learning what they DON’T know.

Instead of learning what you don't know, focus on not messing up what you ALREADY know.

Fractional exponents – which part goes where?

Exponents have been giving my students problems recently. It’s not that they don’t know the exponent rules. It’s just that under pressure, they forget exactly what to do.

And fractional exponents – which consistently show up on the SAT and ACT – are completely flummoxing them. They vaguely know one part stays with the number and one part moves to the root – but aren’t sure which part goes where.

Here’s how to finally learn it so you’ll never forget it – and always get full points on fractional exponent questions.

Think flowers

What’s the equivalent of this? Is it the fourth root of 9 raised to the third power? Or is it the third root of 9 raised to the fourth power?

Keep the flower – toss the root outside

Picture this: The top part is the flower – that’s the part that you want to keep. The bottom part is the root – that part stays outside – or with the root part of the square root.

So 9 raised to the 3/4 power is the same as the fourth root of 9 raised to the third power.

More memory tricks

I've got plenty more memory tricks to help kids solidify what they already know so they can perform under pressure.

In fact, my entire SAT and ACT tutoring business is built around helping kids maximize what they already know in order to get stellar test scores.

Contact me if you’d like to see if I could help you or your student get higher test scores.

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