Quantum computing explained
The basic premise of classical computing is that a switch can only either be on or off -- a zero or a one. This simple binary code powers almost everything digital. By comparison, quantum computing harnesses the power of quantum mechanics. In the world of quantum, things aren't binary; rather, zeroes and ones exist at the same time and to varying degrees in a state known as a superposition.
Classical bits only represent a single piece of information at a time -- whether it is one or whether it is zero. But quantum bits, known as qubits, represent two pieces of information to account for the superposition -- the probability of the one and the probability of the zero. This means that these two contrasting systems scale quite differently. For example, three bits only represent three pieces of information; three qubits represent eight. Likewise, four bits represent four pieces of information, but four qubits represent 16. When someone says that quantum computers are "exponentially" more powerful than classical computers, this is precisely what they mean.