Can someone explain to me "to the power of"?

Question

I'm in Grade 6, and have never gotten the hang of numbers to the power of another. Can someone help? I'm using Ruby and I don't understand the 2**5.
https://code.sololearn.com/cTHFD85H9Afy/?ref=app

Answer 1

@Rushy you can put it like that.

8 to the power of 3 is 8*8*8
8 to the power of 4 is 8*8*8*8

Please refer:

https://www.mathsisfun.com/exponent.html

Answer 2

Yes.
2**3 is 2x2x2 = 4×2 = 8

It's basic math.

Answer 3

2**5 is the same as:
2^5
or
2*2*2*2*2
or
2×2×2×2×2

Answer 4

@Chandra Wibowo Like repetitive multiplication?

Answer 5

x "to the power of" y means you are multiplying x by itself y times. Thus, 2 to the power of 5, or 2**5 in Ruby, means multiply 2 by itself 5 times = 2*2*2*2*2 = 32.

Count the number of 2's you see below:

2 * 2 = 4
4 * 2 = 8
8 * 2 = 16
16 * 2 = 32

Answer 6

Thank you so much for all your responses. Thanks for the link, Chandra, too. I know what squared numbers are. It really clarified things.