Exponents/Quotients : Plz Help!!!!!!!!!!!

lillybeth

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2012
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211
Hello everyone!!! I'm learning about exponents and quotients in Algebra and I've had these before and they were usually pretty basic. Now the problems are starting to get a little more complicated, and I'm having some trouble understanding what I'm supposed to be doing.

One of the homework questions looks like this:
1. Simplify, leaving each answer in positive exponential form.
ax^2 / cx^2
b^2y by^3


(by the way I'm using ^2 = squared)


I really don't know where to start..... I missed a few days of school and a very important lesson. Please help me!!! I have a test in a few days. :confused:

Can someone please just maybe tell me what the first few steps would be? Thanks!! :)
 
Last edited:
Hello everyone!!! I'm learning about exponents and quotients in Algebra and I've had these before and they were usually pretty basic. Now the problems are starting to get a little more complicated, and I'm having some trouble understanding what I'm supposed to be doing.

One of the homework questions looks like this:
1. Simplify, leaving each answer in positive exponential form.
ax^2 / cx^2
b^2y by^3


(by the way I'm using ^2 = squared)


I really don't know where to start..... I missed a few days of school and a very important lesson. Please help me!!! I have a test in a few days. :confused:

Can someone please just maybe tell me what the first few steps would be? Thanks!! :)
Could you restate the question with some grouping symbols please? For example, I'm not sure whether there is just one expression or two. If two, it might be
a x^2 / (c x^2)
and
b^2 y / (b y^3)
but I'm unsure of that.
 
Last edited:
Could you restate the question with some grouping symbols please? For example, I'm not sure whether there is just one expression or two. If two, it might be
a x^2 / (c x^2)
and
b^2 y / (b y^3)
but I'm unsure of that.

Yes!

What I was trying to say was ax^2 / b^2y divided by cx^2/by^3.
If that makes it any easier to understand. :)
 
Yes!

What I was trying to say was ax^2 / b^2y divided by cx^2/by^3.
If that makes it any easier to understand. :)
\(\displaystyle \dfrac{\dfrac{a x^2}{b^2 y}}{\dfrac{c x^2}{b y^3}}\)

O.K.
First Rule: when dividing by a fraction, invert the fraction and multiply. For example
\(\displaystyle \dfrac{1}{\dfrac{a}{b}} = {1}\, *\, \dfrac{b}{a} = \dfrac{b}{a}\)

Second Rule: You can change the sign of the exponent by moving it from the numerator to the denominator or vice versa. For example
1/25 = 2-5
39 = 1 / 3-9

Third Rule: if the base is the same multiplying by numbers is the same as adding exponents. For example
(22 212 / (214 2-10) = 22 212 2-14 210 by the Second Rule
= 22+12-14+10 = 210

That should be enough for this problem but you should study up on the rules for exponents. For example, see
http://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/exponent-laws.html
 
\(\displaystyle \dfrac{\dfrac{a x^2}{b^2 y}}{\dfrac{c x^2}{b y^3}}\)

O.K.
First Rule: when dividing by a fraction, invert the fraction and multiply. For example
\(\displaystyle \dfrac{1}{\dfrac{a}{b}} = {1}\, *\, \dfrac{b}{a} = \dfrac{b}{a}\)

Second Rule: You can change the sign of the exponent by moving it from the numerator to the denominator or vice versa. For example
1/25 = 2-5
39 = 1 / 3-9

Third Rule: if the base is the same multiplying by numbers is the same as adding exponents. For example
(22 212 / (214 2-10) = 22 212 2-14 210 by the Second Rule
= 22+12-14+10 = 210

That should be enough for this problem but you should study up on the rules for exponents. For example, see
http://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/exponent-laws.html


Thanks!!!!!!!!
 
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