When we talk about 10 raised to the power of negative 3 (written as 10-3), we’re dealing with a mathematical concept called exponentiation. Exponents indicate how many times a number (the base) is multiplied by itself. In the case of a negative exponent, however, it signifies reciprocal values.
So, 10-3 translates to:
1 / 103
Now, let’s break this down further: 103 is equal to 10 x 10 x 10, which equals 1000. Therefore, when we calculate 10-3, we find that:
10-3 = 1 / 1000 = 0.001
This means that 10 raised to the power of negative 3 is equal to 0.001.
This concept can be particularly useful in various fields—such as science, engineering, and finance—where we often deal with very large or very small numbers. Understanding negative exponents allows us to work efficiently with these values.