"The Powers That Be" Vocabulary

The sum of a number and its additive inverse is zero. Also called the opposite of a number.

Example: 5 and -5 are additive inverses of each other.

The number of times a base is used as a factor of repeated multiplication.

Side opposite to the right angle in a right triangle.

A real number whose decimal form is non terminating and non-repeating that cannot be written as the ratio of two integers.

Either of the two shorter sides of a right triangle; the two legs form the right angle of the triangle.

A theorem that relates the lengths of the sides of a right triangle. The sum of the squares of the lengths of a right triangle equals the square of the length of the hypotenuse.

A symbol that is used to indicate square roots.

A number that can be written as the ratio of two integers with a nonzero denominator.

A representation of real numbers as the product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10, used
primarily for very large or very small numbers.

A way of describing how
precisely a number is written.

One of two equal factors of a nonnegative number. For example, 5 is a square root of 25 because 5•5 = 25. Another square root of 25 is -5 because (-5)•(-5) = 25. The +5 is called the principle square root of 25 and is always assumed when the radical symbol is
used.