In simplist form why is 2^2/2^5 a fraction
2^2/2^5 = 4/32 = 1/8
To simplify the fraction 2^2/2^5, we can use the properties of exponents.
First, let's simplify the numerator (2^2):
2^2 can be calculated as 2 × 2, which equals 4.
Next, let's simplify the denominator (2^5):
2^5 can be calculated as 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2, which equals 32.
So the simplified form of the fraction 2^2/2^5 is 4/32.
Note: We can simplify this fraction further by dividing both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common divisor, which is 4. So dividing 4 by 4 gives us 1, and dividing 32 by 4 gives us 8. Therefore, the simplified form of the fraction is 1/8.
To understand why 2^2/2^5 is a fraction, let's break down the expression:
2^2 means 2 raised to the power of 2, which is equivalent to 2 multiplied by itself. Thus, 2^2 = 2 * 2 = 4.
Similarly, 2^5 means 2 raised to the power of 5, which is 2 multiplied by itself five times: 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 32.
Now we have 4/32. Since both numbers (4 and 32) share a common factor of 4, we can simplify the fraction by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by 4. This yields 1/8.
Therefore, 2^2/2^5 simplifies to the fraction 1/8.