The rules for addition and subtraction of exponents are the same, so they will be considered together. To add two exponential numbers, you must first convert the exponents to the same value. It is often easier to change the exponent of the smaller number to that of the larger number. Add the coefficients. Multiply the answer by the comment exponent.
Several examples follow that illustrate the process for solving addition and subtraction problems.
The rules for subtraction are the same as the rules of addition. To subtract two exponential numbers, you must also convert them to the same exponent by changing the value of the lower exponent into that of the higher. We would round this number to 5.8x10 -5 because the rules for significant figures for addition and subtraction only allow the final sum to have the same number of significant digits to the right of the decimal point as the number with the least significant digits after the decimal in the original addition or subtraction. Multiplication and Division One of the main advantages of exponential notation is that the process of multiplication and division is greatly simplified. The simple rule for multiplying exponential numbers is to add the exponents.