Q. Express the following fraction in simplest form, only using positive exponents.−6w−5(−3w−3)5Answer:
Move Exponents to Opposite Parts: Rewrite the negative exponents as positive exponents by moving the terms with negative exponents to the opposite part of the fraction.((−3w−3)5) becomes (−3)5×(w−3)5 in the numerator.(−6w−5) becomes −6×w−5 in the denominator.We can move w−3 to the denominator and w−5 to the numerator to make the exponents positive.
Apply Power to Factors: Apply the power to each factor inside the parentheses.(−3)5=−243 because (−3) multiplied by itself 5 times is −243.(w(−3))5=w(−15) because when you raise a power to a power, you multiply the exponents.So, the numerator becomes −243×w(−15).In the denominator, we have −6×w(−5), which we will address in the next step.
Adjust Exponents: Move w−15 from the numerator to the denominator and w−5 from the denominator to the numerator to make the exponents positive.The expression becomes −243×w5/(−6×w15).
Simplify Fraction: Simplify the fraction by dividing the numerical coefficients and subtracting the exponents of like bases.−243/−6=40.5 (This is a math error because −243 divided by −6 is actually 40.5 without the decimal point.)w5/w15=w5−15=w−10 (This is correct, but we need to move w−10 to the denominator to make the exponent positive.)
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