Final answer:
The answer to the question 'What is x^0 equal to?' is that x^0 is equal to 1, irrespective of the value of x (apart from when x is zero), due to the consistency required in the rules governing exponentiation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The exponentiation of any number x to the power of zero, denoted x^0, is defined as being equal to 1. This is because exponentiation follows certain rules, one of which is that anything to the power of zero is 1. This rule helps maintain consistency across various mathematical operations involving powers and exponents. For example, following the rule of dividing powers with the same base (where you subtract the exponents), x^a / x^a equals x^(a-a), which simplifies to x^0. Since any number divided by itself is equal to 1, x^0 must, therefore, equal 1.