very newbie questions

[Alex]

> How do you write an exponent sign in python (ie how do u write 16 x 16
> in exponential form?)

16 ** 2

> WHat does the '%' operation do?

That depends.  For integers, a % b is the remainder when a is divided by
b.  For strings, it tells python to perform some substitutions.  See

http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/typesseq-strings.html

for more info.

> One more thing...  How do you turn a string into numerical data to do
> math on (I have to use the raw_input() command, b/c they enter a # in
> hexadecimal) then turn the numerical data back into a string?

If you want an integer, use e.g. int('16').  For a float, use
e.g. float('16.5') 

Alex.

-- 
Speak softly but carry a big carrot.