apply the Property of Negative Integer Exponents to generate an expression equivalent to 5^−9 divided by 4^−12 with positive exponents only

1 answer

To generate an expression equivalent to \( \frac{5^{-9}}{4^{-12}} \) using positive exponents only, we can apply the property of negative integer exponents which states that \( a^{-n} = \frac{1}{a^n} \).

Starting with the original expression:

\[ \frac{5^{-9}}{4^{-12}} \]

We can rewrite the negative exponents as follows:

\[ = \frac{1}{5^{9}} \div \frac{1}{4^{12}} \]

Dividing by a fraction is equivalent to multiplying by its reciprocal:

\[ = \frac{1}{5^{9}} \times 4^{12} \]

This can be written as:

\[ = \frac{4^{12}}{5^{9}} \]

Now, both exponents are positive. Thus, the equivalent expression using only positive exponents is:

\[ \frac{4^{12}}{5^{9}} \]