(16^-5)1/20 can someone please help me, I know 16 raised to the power of -5 is one over 16 to the 5 power(1/16^5) but then what do I do with the power of 1 over 20 (1/16^5)1/20 ?

Question

anonymous · Answer

So you have a base raised to a power and then that is being raised to another power?

anonymous · Answer

If the answer to my question is yes, then there is a rule in algebra which allows you to multiply the two powers together.  If you do that, your problem simplifies to a much nicer 16^(-5/20) which then simplifies even nicer to 16^(-1/4).  Then you just have to take the 4th root of 16 and raise that to the -1 power. The fourth root of 16 is 2, and 2 raised to the -1 power is 1/2.