mathbf{c^3} \times c^2 = \mathbf{c \times c \times c} \times c \times c\). Writing the indices out in full shows that \(c^3 \times c^2\) means \(c\) has now been multiplied by itself 5 times.

Indices show how many times a number or letter has been multiplied by itself. Here is a number written in index form: 2 is the base number and 4 is the index or power. 2 4 is a short way of ...