I can't tell what is over what because you don't have enough parentheses to show. What you have translates as this:But I'll assume it is this: Add the 3 exponents of x on the top: Combine those exponents of x on the top: Subtract the exponent of x on the bottom from the exponent of x on the top: Since you probably don't want negative exponents, subtract the exponent of y on the top from the exponent of y on the bottom Edwin