Powers and roots Worked Solutions — GCSE Maths

Fully worked, step-by-step solutions to GCSE Powers and roots questions. See exactly how to solve problems on squares, cubes, square roots, cube roots.

squarescubessquare rootscube rootspowers of 2powers of 3
GCSE Foundation70 questionsStep-by-step solutions
Question 1
1 markeasy
Work out 77 squared, that is 727^2.

Worked solution

  1. Recall what the power means

    727^2

    A power tells you how many times to multiply the base by itself, so this means 77 multiplied 22 times.

  2. Write it out in full

    72=7×77^2 = 7 \times 7

    Writing every factor out makes the repeated multiplication clear.

  3. Multiply the final factor

    7×7=497 \times 7 = 49

    Multiply 77 by the last 77, giving 4949.

Answer
4949
Question 2
1 markeasy
Work out 929^2.

Worked solution

  1. Recall what the power means

    929^2

    A power tells you how many times to multiply the base by itself, so this means 99 multiplied 22 times.

  2. Write it out in full

    92=9×99^2 = 9 \times 9

    Writing every factor out makes the repeated multiplication clear.

  3. Multiply the final factor

    9×9=819 \times 9 = 81

    Multiply 99 by the last 99, giving 8181.

Answer
8181
Question 3
1 markeasy
Work out 12212^2.

Worked solution

  1. Recall what the power means

    12212^2

    A power tells you how many times to multiply the base by itself, so this means 1212 multiplied 22 times.

  2. Write it out in full

    122=12×1212^2 = 12 \times 12

    Writing every factor out makes the repeated multiplication clear.

  3. Multiply the final factor

    12×12=14412 \times 12 = 144

    Multiply 1212 by the last 1212, giving 144144.

Answer
144144
Question 4
1 markeasy
Work out 33 cubed, that is 333^3.

Worked solution

  1. Recall what the power means

    333^3

    A power tells you how many times to multiply the base by itself, so this means 33 multiplied 33 times.

  2. Write it out in full

    33=3×3×33^3 = 3 \times 3 \times 3

    Writing every factor out makes the repeated multiplication clear.

  3. Multiply the next factor

    3×3=93 \times 3 = 9

    Multiply the running total 33 by another 33 to get 99.

  4. Multiply the final factor

    9×3=279 \times 3 = 27

    Multiply 99 by the last 33, giving 2727.

Answer
2727
Question 5
1 markeasy
Work out 434^3.

Worked solution

  1. Recall what the power means

    434^3

    A power tells you how many times to multiply the base by itself, so this means 44 multiplied 33 times.

  2. Write it out in full

    43=4×4×44^3 = 4 \times 4 \times 4

    Writing every factor out makes the repeated multiplication clear.

  3. Multiply the next factor

    4×4=164 \times 4 = 16

    Multiply the running total 44 by another 44 to get 1616.

  4. Multiply the final factor

    16×4=6416 \times 4 = 64

    Multiply 1616 by the last 44, giving 6464.

Answer
6464

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