Dividing Negative Exponents | Dave May Teaches

To divide negative exponents, flip them to the opposite side of the fraction, then make them positive!

[brandimartin]

You save me and my friend after an hour of trying to figure out a super hard Thank <3

[mikayladawn]

This was incredibly helpful for my high school freshman. It was like a lightbulb! Thanks!

[courtneyisblue]

This was really helpful! I'm taking college placement exams tomorrow and haven't taken a math class since I was 15 (around 8 years ago). Your videos are a great refresher course. Thanks! :)

[eunr]

11 yrs later and its still as helpful🫡thank you

[sarahfaith]

Thank you your the only peospn that i could find to do this and explain it that well

[davidbrooks]

Remember!! A plain-old number like 15 or y or even anything with a negative exponent is always automatically on the top and is always multiplied and divided by 1. y is 1*y/1,  15 is 1*15/1, even though we dont write it out normally. Thats why there is a 1 left when we move it to the bottom, and thats why the first thing we learn is moving it to the bottom. (then fractions come in and we are taught that they simply move to the opposite side)

[relentless]

This 1 min vid made me understand quicker then my teachers 1 hr lecture. Thank you

[druhanperera]

You make good videos that I understand and your editing skills are great I don't know why you don't get the amount of subscribers you deserve

[davidbmay]

you got it thanks man. let me know what other videos you might find helpful

[valmerlos]

i wish i had teachers like you all through high school!

[davidbmay]

the answer would be (3/2), or 1.5

(2/3) with a -1 exponent means that the 2 (on top) and the 3 (on bottom) both have a -1 exponent. So you flip them both! The 2 goes to the bottom and the 3 goes to the top. That's why the answer is (3/2)

[davidbmay]

Great question. Fraction exponents have to do with roots -- Like a fraction of 1/2 actually means square root. Do you have a specific question I can answer? In the meantime I'll get working on a video that I hope better answers your question!

[Rara-fdec]

What if you have a negative exponent on top but the bottom exponent is positive? My specific question is 9^-3/9^12, would that be 1/9^3+9^12?

[davidbmay]

Thank you! Would love to hear if you have any suggestions for me, including ideas for future videos.

[davidbmay]

@Suesaysboo if only one of them was negative then that's the only one you flip to the other side. If the other was is positive leave it where it is-- either on top or the bottom of the fraction. Only flip the negative exponent. It's easier to explain these over a video than a YouTube comment--- let me know if I can explain better

[ale-xbds]

Thank you. Just thank you. You're a life saver !

[arcadistorias]

Thanks a bunch, nice refresher.. taking precalc + trig in college and I actually forgot how this worked lol.

[davidbmay]

in that case, flip the one from the bottom up to the top and make it positive AND flip the one from the top to the bottom and make it positive, too.

SO
x^-3 over x^-5
becomes
x^5 over x^3

[TheJermonika]

What if you had a fraction like (2/3) with a -1 exponent. What do you do?

[LKS]

What do you do if you have a fraction as an exponent? (and if that fraction thats your exponent is negative?)
Thank you! :)