how do you simplify a number with aa fraction exponent such as : 32^1/2
This means the square root of 32.
Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "fractional exponents rules" to get this:
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=fractional+exponents+rules&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search. Also see http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/.