Say you have the problem 5⁶⁻⁴ⁿ=3125. If you want to find the same bases, and don’t happen to remember that 3125 is 5⁵, you can use your graphing calculator to help (in a way other than entering 5ⁱ⁺¹ over and over).

Go to y=, and enter 5^X. Go to table (that’s 2ɴᴅ+ɢʀᴀᴘʜ, but you knew that), and voilà! In the Y column, you should be able to find 3125. The X column shows the exponent.