Imagine if all we had was addition, no multiplication. If I showed you a wall with 5 shelves and 32 books on each shelf, you’d have to start at zero and add 32 then 32 more then 32 more… 5 times.

0+32+32+32+32+32

That would be tedious and time-consuming. Instead, we have a shorthand way of saying it, 32 x 5. It even has its own button on the calculator.

Similarly, you have two parents and each of them have two parents and each of them have two parents, going back 6 generations, how many great-great-great-great-grandparents do you have? Start with 1 (yourself) multiply by 2 then times 2 again then times 2 again, six times.

1 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2

But there’s a shorter way to say this. It’s 2 to the 6th power. It even has its own button on the calculator.

So now you know that 3 to the 7th power is

1 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3

3^1 = 3

3^2 = 9

3^3 = 27

3^4 = 81

3^5 = 243

3^6 = 729

3^7 = 2187