Question

When you apply the rules of exponents to divide two exponential numbers with the same base, what do you do with the exponents?

Answer 1

To divide two exponential numbers with the same base, subtract the exponents of the base in the dividend and divisor, and divide the coefficients if they are present.

Step-by-step explanation:

When you apply the rules of exponents to divide two exponential numbers with the same base, you subtract the exponents. This rule is often summarized as follows: an ÷ am = an-m where a is the base and n and m are the exponents. To demonstrate this rule with an example, if you had 106 divided by 103, you would subtract the exponents: 6 - 3, to get 103. Another example would be 9×1012 divided by 2×103, first, divide the coefficients (9 divided by 2) and then subtract the exponents (12 - 3), resulting in 4.5×109.