Negative exponents can be rewritten in two ways. Firstly, start with 1 and divide it by 2 the same number of times as the exponent. Secondly, take the reciprocal of the base and raise it to the …

How to evaluate powers that are negative unit fractions, like 9 raised to -½ and 27 raised to -⅓.

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With negative exponents, you know that x^(-1) = 1/x^1 or just 1/x. Therefore, x^1/x^2 = 1/x. By the way, with x/x^2 you can also factor out an x from the numerator and denominator to obtain: …

Discover how to break down the numerator, distribute the division, and use exponent properties. Master the art of simplifying fractions and handling negative exponents.

So, what if I were to ask you, what is 12 to the negative seven divided by 12 to the negative five power? Well, when you're dividing, you subtract exponents if you have the same base.

Reflect on what you've learned about exponents... 2^3/2^5 is a division of exponents; the two bases are the same. So, they can be combined to 2^(3 - 5), which gets us 2^(-2). Then, using …

This negative-- the first thing I always like to do is I want to get rid of this negative in the exponent. So let me just take the reciprocal of this and raise it to the positive.

Negative exponent means "take the reciprocal" of the base. Flipping the fraction gets rid of the negative sign because taking the reciprocal is what the negative exponent is instructing us to do.

Any variable that can be squared so for instance x^2 or y^4 is taken out of the square root symbol. You then divide the exponent by 2 (so x^2 would be x^1 or just x and y^4 would be y^2). Once …