Q. Express the following fraction in simplest form, only using positive exponents.−5w−2(−5w−5)2Answer:
Apply Power to Numerator: Apply the power to the numerator.When raising a power to a power, you multiply the exponents. In this case, we have (−5w−5)2, which means we need to square both −5 and w−5.((−5)2⋅(w−5)2)=(25⋅w−10)
Rewrite Denominator with Positive Exponents: Rewrite the denominator with positive exponents.To convert a negative exponent to a positive exponent, you take the reciprocal of the base. So, −5w−2 becomes −w25.
Combine Numerator and Denominator: Combine the numerator and denominator.Now we have (25⋅w−10)/(−5/w2). To divide by a fraction, you multiply by its reciprocal. So, we multiply 25⋅w−10 by w2/−5.(25⋅w−10)⋅(w2/−5)
Simplify the Expression: Simplify the expression.We can cancel out the −5 in the numerator and denominator and multiply the w terms by adding the exponents.(25/−5)×(w(−10)×w2)=−5×w(−10+2)=−5×w(−8)
Rewrite with Positive Exponents: Rewrite the expression with positive exponents.To make the exponent of w positive, we take the reciprocal of w−8, which gives us w8 in the denominator.−w85
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