Exponent
= Exponent
{title2=$b\text{ in }a^b$}
An exponent specifies the power in <exponentiation>: in $a^b$, $a$ is the base and $b$ is the exponent. For a positive <integer> exponent, $2^3=2\cdot2\cdot2=8$. For a positive <real number> base, a real exponent is defined by $a^b=\exp(b\log a)$ using the <exponential function> and <natural logarithm>. The <Lp norm> uses its exponent $p$ to determine how strongly large <absolute values> affect the result.