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Simplify this expression. Assume that y and z are both nonzero.

(Question in file/picture)

Type exponential notation with positive exponents.

Simplify this expression. Assume that y and z are both nonzero. (Question in file-example-1
User Naaooj
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1 Answer

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Hi, Braydon ! Long time no see. Hope it's all good with you.

First of all, that " -1 " exponent outside the whole thing. That means
invert everything inside. So you're really simplifying:

-21 y⁶ z⁻⁸ / 147 y⁴ z⁴

You can easily write this as the product of 3 separate fractions.
That doesn't change anything, but it makes it a lot easier to handle:

(-21/147) x (y⁶/y⁴) x (z⁻⁸/z⁴) .

Simplify each one, then just multiply them together again.

First one: (-21/147) Divide top and bottom by 21, and it's (-1/7) .

Second one: (y⁶/y⁴) Divide top and bottom by y⁴, and it's (y²) .

Third one: (z⁻⁸/z⁴) Multiply top and bottom by z⁸, and it's (1/z¹²).

Multiply them:

(-1/7) x (y²) x (1/z¹²) =

- y² / 7 z¹² .

That's exactly the same thing as the original expression in the picture,
but it's a lot prettier.

User Klitos Kyriacou
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