exercise power vs.exert power [closed]
Solution 1:
To exercise power would be to use power.
To exert power would be to make a forceful effort to use power.
So, the nuance affects how they would be used in a sentence.
The manager exercised his power over his employees by firing one of them as an example.
The body builder exerted his power to lift the two-hundred-pound weight.
In those two examples there is a connotation that the manager used his power in an effortless manner, whereas the body builder had to make an effort to use his power; which is why exerted was chosen instead of used.