7 to the power of - 2

_______________________

7 to the power of - 4

could you show me how you get 49 as the naswer...the long line shows that you need to divide both of them

If you see a negative exponent in the numerator, it is the reciprocal of the number without the negative sign in the exponent. Namely:

A-b = 1/Ab
or
1/A-b = Ab

Therefore
7-2 / 7-4
=74 / 72
=?

To solve this problem, we need to simplify the expression:

7^(-2) / 7^(-4)

To divide two numbers with the same base but different exponents, we subtract the exponents:

7^(-2 - (-4))

First, let's simplify the exponents:

7^(-2 + 4)

Now, add the exponents:

7^2

This means we need to multiply 7 by itself:

7 * 7

Which equals:

49

So, 7^(-2) / 7^(-4) simplifies to 49.