Exponents
By convention, terms with the highest power (exponent), are written on the left, for example, is written to the left of . When a coefficient is one, it is usually omitted (e.g. is written ). Likewise when the exponent (power) is one, (e.g. is written ), and, when the exponent is zero, the result is always 1 (e.g. is always ).
Read more about this topic: Algebraic Expression, Conventions