SOLUTION: I am really trying to understand this math. While in class my teacher was explaining it to the class but the other kids were being very loud and rude and she would not repeat hers

Question 513323: I am really trying to understand this math. While in class my teacher was explaining it to the class but the other kids were being very loud and rude and she would not repeat herself. I am confused on how to write a fraction as an expression using a negative exponent other than -1.
Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
I am really trying to understand this math. While in class my teacher was explaining it to the class but the other kids were being very loud and rude and she would not repeat herself. I am confused on how to write a fraction as an expression using a negative exponent other than -1.
-----
Example: 2^(-3)
---
This expression tells you to do 2 things:
The 3 tells you to cube the base.
The minus 1 tells you to invert the base.
-----
You may perform these directions in either order
to get the correct result.
------
Start: 2^(-3)
1st: cube the base to get: 8^(-1)
2nd: invert the base to get: 1/8
-----------------------------------
OR
-------
Start: 2^(-3)
1st: invert the base to get: (1/2)^3
2nd: cube the base to get: 1/8
=====================================
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Stan H.
======================
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