Question

Simplify the following : x^2y^-3 / x^5y^2​

Answer 1

Remember that exponents (or powers) of the same basis can be divided by subtracting the exponents. For example
`(x^n)/(x^m) =x^(n-m)`

Using this information, we can easily rearrange our equation to look like this:

`(x^2)/(x^5) (y^(-3))/(y^2)`

Now that the basis are the same, we can conveniently subtract the exponents to get the following result:

`x^(-3)y^(-5)` or
`(1)/(x^3y^5)`. And that's the final answer.

Answer 2

Explanation:

`(a^(m))/(a^(n))=a^(m-n)\\\\a^(-m)=(1)/(a^(m))\\\\\\(x^(2)y^(-3))/(x^(5)y^(2))=x^((2-5))*y^((-3-2))\\\\ = x^(-3)*y^(-5)\\\\=(1)/(x^(3)y^(5))`