Can anyone solve this insanity of Simplifying Exponent Expressions?????? Its (-3x^-1 y^-2)(2x^4 y^-3) ???????????/

Question

anonymous · Answer

$$(-3x^{-1} y^{-2})(2x^4 y^{-3})
$$
it is just bookkeeping.  add the exponents

anonymous · Answer

$$-6x^{-1+4}y^{-2-3}$$

anonymous · Answer

But it says to write it as positive exponents

hero · Answer

I personally hate negative exponents. You'll never see a negative exponent in any of my solutions.

anonymous · Answer

ok satellite has already done all the hard work, the rest is easy if you wish to write it in terms of positive exponents.

anonymous · Answer

Here is what Satellite got to: $$-6x^{3}y^{-5}$$
then you know that a negative exponent means a fraction - i.e. $$a^{-b} = \frac{1}{a^b}$$
so we have
$$\frac{-6x^3}{y^5}$$

anonymous · Answer

when multiplying, add the indices, when raising to the power multiply the indices...

anonymous · Answer

Thanks...

hero · Answer

negative exponent actually means means "inverse". so a^-b really means inverse of a^b which equals 1/a^b

anonymous · Answer

Can I throw another 1 @ ya?

anonymous · Answer

yeah, it's the multiplicative inverse isn't it: a^(b) has multiplicative inverse a^(-b). In the real number field this is equal to 1/a^b. However, in groups for example, there's no concept of a number so we stick to a^(-1) as the inverse of a. Since we are in the real numbers, a^b has inverse a^(-b).