Small Examples

Let me show you a few quick examples:

• $3^2 = 3 \times 3 = 9$

• $5^3 = 5 \times 5 \times 5 = 125$

• $10^4 = 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 = 10000$

Notice how quickly numbers grow. Doubling the exponent can make your result 10x, 100x, or 1000x bigger depending on the base. This exponential growth appears in algorithm analysis when you count operations in nested loops or recursive calls.