Question

How to simplify 3x~2y~5? The 2 and 5 are the negative exponents.

Answer 1

The answer is shown in the attached image below. A negative exponent tells you to flip the base or take the reciprocal. The rule is

x^(-k) = 1/(x^k)

where k is any real number you want. For example, x^(-2) = 1/(x^2)