Question 1105691
not sure what your teacher taught you, but here's a way that i learned from online tutorials.


(-2^8 * 5^3) / (5^4 * 2^10 * 10) equals:


-1/10 * 2^8/2^10 * 5^3/5^4 equals:


-1/10 * 2^(8-10) * 5^(3-4) equals:


-1/10 * 2^(-2) * 5^(-1) equals:


-1/10 * 1/2^2 * 1/5^1 equals:


-1/10 * 1/4 * 1/5 equals:


-1/10 * 1/20 equals:


-1/200.


note that -2^8 is not the same as (-2)^8.


-2^8 is the same as -(2^8).


if they showed it to you without the parentheses surrounding the -2, then it -(2^8).


the concepts involved are:


x^a / x^b is equal to x^(a-b).


x^(-a) is equal to 1/x^a.


-x^a is equal to -1 * x^a which is equal to -(x^a)


(-x)^a is equal to (-x)^a


also some more exponential arithmetic properties.


(x*y)^a is equal to x^a * y^a


(x/y)^a is equal to x^a / y^a


these properties, and possibly more, are covered in tutorials 42 to 48 in the following reference.


<a href = "http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/col_algebra/index.htm" target = "_blank">http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/col_algebra/index.htm</a>