Exponential Functions

Question

How many times more powerful is an earthquake with a Richter Scale reading of 7.9 than an earthquake with a rating of 3.2?

Answer 1

Just doing some preliminary googling, it seems each whole-number increase in magnitude means the earthquake is a factor of 32 stronger. In this case, since the 7.9 quake is 4.7 higher on the scale than the 3.2 quake, it is 32^4.7 ≈ 11,863,283 times more powerful than the 3.2 quake.