Simplify
36x^2 y^4 a^-2
____________________
72a x^-1 y
^ means power
Divide both numerator and denominator by 36 which will give you 1/2. Then the a^-2 on top will tranfer to the bottom becoming a^2 and that will combine with the a already there to become a^3. Proceed with each a, x, and y for the final answer. We shall be happy to check your final result if you wish.
Is this the answear to 36x^2 y^4 a^-2
____________________
72a x^-1 y
^ means power
Answear 1
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2 a^3 x y^5
No. Remember to change the sign of the exponent when moving a variable from top to bottom or from bottom to top. THEN combine terms. I would move the negative ones first (X^-1 on the bottom and a^-2 on top). Then combine the positive and negative variable into one exponent.
Ok Dan, here's a suggestion line the variable up over each other like
36x^2 y^4 a^-2
________________
x^-1 y 72a
Then add or subtract corresponding exponents. For x we have 2- -1, for y, 4-3, for a, -2-1. Show your work when you're done.
To simplify the expression, let's line up the variables over each other:
36x^2 y^4 a^-2
____________
x^-1 y 72a
Now, let's combine the exponents for each variable.
For x, we have 2 - (-1), which gives us x^3.
For y, we have 4 - 1, which gives us y^3.
For a, we have -2 - 1, which gives us a^-3.
So our simplified expression is:
36x^2 y^4 a^-2
____________
x^-1 y 72a
simplifies to:
36x^3 y^3
_________
x y 72a^-3
But we can simplify it further.
Dividing both the numerator and denominator by 72, we get:
36/72 * x^3 y^3
_____________
x y a^-3
Which simplifies to:
1/2 * x^3 y^3
________
x y a^-3
Finally, we can cancel out common factors:
1/2 * x^2 y^2
________
a^-3
And bring the negative exponent to the numerator:
1/2 * x^2 y^2 * a^3
So the final simplified expression is:
1/2 * x^2 y^2 * a^3.