Question

(-4a^-3 b^-2)(2a^-4 b^4)

Answer 1

The expression

`(-4a^(-3)b^(-2))(2a^(-4)b^4)`

when the individual terms are multiplied together, we get

`(-4a^(-3)\cdot2a^(-4))(b^(-2)\cdot b^4)`

Using the exponent property that

`a^x\cdot a^y=a^((x+y))`

The above expression simplifies to

`-8a^(-3-4)\cdot b^(-2+4)`
`\boxed{-8a^(-7)b^2}`

which is the simplest form we can get for our original expression.