Rules for Solving Exponential (Indicial) Equations

Indices

Rules for Solving Exponential Equations

An exponential equation is a type of math problem where the number we are looking for is hiding as a power.

An exponential or indicial equation is a combination of indices and all other forms of equations.

It is a normal math equation that uses index powers to represent numbers.

This topic is very easy to solve if you know the laws of indices very well.

Rule 1

First, you must make sure the left side and the right side of the equal sign look like index numbers.

1. The two sides i.e LHS and RHS of the equation must be expressed in index form.

This means both sides of the equals sign must have a base and a power.

Rule 2

You must change the numbers so that the big bottom numbers are the same on both sides.

2. You need to have the same values on both sides of the equation for you to cancel them out.

When the bases match, you can cross them out and work with only the powers.

Rule 3

Your main goal is to find the value of a letter like x or y that you do not know yet.

3. You’ll always solve for an unknown value which can be represented by any letter of the alphabet.

We use the rules of math to find the number that the letter stands for.

Important Note

You must study and master all the laws of indices to be able to solve these equations correctly.