Exponents

[~Midnight.Kitten~]

in exponents; what are the rules like below:

-5 + 4=
-5 x 4=

Like what are the rules for dividing,multiplying,adding and subtracting exponents? Like would the resulting number be a positive, or a negative..etc?? Im trying to do better with my math because im grounded all summer for having 4 e's on my report card.and i can do better in everything else but math, and next year im going into high School so i need to understand math better.

 

[tkhunny]

4 e's and grounded only for the Summer? You got off easy.

Sadly, I cannot tell what it is you need. We really can't reproduce a classroom, here, and we REALLY don't want to rewrite your textbook.

So, I think you'll have to be a little more specific. Show us a problem and suggest what you have done to solve it. We can walk you through it. Don't worry about posting anything "WRONG". Learning is what is important. Cast any embarrassment aside and you'll do just fine.

Let's see what you're working on...

 

[~Midnight.Kitten~]

okay, heres some examples.

5 + -4 =
3 - -4=
3 x -2=
4 divided by -8=

What would the exponents on the answers be? negative or positive?and would you takethe larger or smaller numbers exponent?

 

[Euler]

okay, heres some examples.

5 + -4 =
3 - -4=
3 x -2=
4 divided by -8=

What would the exponents on the answers be? negative or positive?and would you takethe larger or smaller numbers exponent?

If what you mean is x^5+X^-4 then

is what you want.

If you simply mean that 5 and -4 are exponents of the same x variable, then you will want

I don't quite understand if 5 + -4 is implying they are both exponents of a single x term, or if 5 and -4 are two different exponents of two different x terms. Could you please specify?

 

[~Midnight.Kitten~]

i mean what are the rules of exponents, Like For Example 5+ -4= ? since the 4 is negative, would the resulting answer be negative also??

 

[Euler]

i mean what are the rules of exponents, Like For Example 5+ -4= ? since the 4 is negative, would the resulting answer be negative also??

I am assuming you want to know what happens when 5 and -4 are two different exponents of two different x variables.

In that case, I suggest reading this page.

 

[~Midnight.Kitten~]

yes.

 

[Euler]

yes.

Good, so in the case of the 5+-4, you would get:

The rule is when an exponent is negative, it gets moved from the numerator to the denominator, or vice versa (depending on it's position) The same is true when you subtract them.

Then you wanted 3 x -2. That would be:

The rule when you multiply variables with exponents is to add them. I added 3 and -2 to get 1.

Division is similar, but instead of addition, you subtract.

4 - (-8) = 12.

 

[~Midnight.Kitten~]

what if there are no fractions involved?

 

[Euler]

what if there are no fractions involved?

was not a fraction. I was simply demonstrating that x^4 divided by x^-8 equaled x^12. Sorry for the confusion. The equation is the same as

.

 

[~Midnight.Kitten~]

ooh ok Thank You

 

[tkhunny]

OK, someone explain it to me.

How do we get from "5 + -4 = " to x⁵/x^-4?

Are there rules for this shorthand?

 

[Euler]

OK, someone explain it to me.

How do we get from "5 + -4 = " to x⁵/x^-4?

Are there rules for this shorthand?

It was guesswork on my part, but I think what they wanted to find out was what you would do with 5 and -4 exponent values if they were two different exponents of two different x values.