The notation you are referring to is called exponential notation or superscript notation. In this notation, the number at the bottom is called the base, and the smaller number at the top or to the right is called the exponent.
Let's take your example: 2^4. This means that 2 is the base, and 4 is the exponent. In mathematics, when a number is raised to an exponent, it means that the number is multiplied by itself a certain number of times.
So, 2^4 is read as "2 raised to the power of 4," and it represents the multiplication of 2 four times: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16.
To calculate the value of a number raised to an exponent, you can follow these steps:
1. Start with the base number.
2. Multiply the base number by itself the number of times specified by the exponent.
In this case, we start with 2 and multiply it by itself 4 times: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16. So, 2^4 equals 16.