Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) GCSE Computer Science Practice Exam

Raising a number to a power is known as exponentiation. In this operation, a base number is multiplied by itself a certain number of times, which is indicated by the exponent. For example, in the expression \(2^3\), the base is 2, and it is raised to the power of 3, meaning \(2 \times 2 \times 2\), which equals 8.

This concept is crucial in various mathematical and computational applications, such as calculating powers in algorithms, working with exponential growth in data, and understanding how numbers can be manipulated in programming contexts.

The other options represent different mathematical operations: factorial involves the product of an integer and all the integers below it, usually denoted with an exclamation mark (e.g., \(5! = 5 \times 4 \times 3 \times 2 \times 1\)); division is the act of splitting a number into equal parts, often symbolized by a slash or a division sign; and subtraction is the operation of taking one number away from another. Each of these differs fundamentally from exponentiation in their processes and outcomes.