Evaluate the left hand side to find the value of a,a in the equation in simplest form.

x, start superscript, start fraction, 5, divided by, 6, end fraction, end superscript, x, start superscript, start fraction, 3, divided by, 2, end fraction, end superscript, equals, x, to the power a
x
6
5


x
2
3


=
x
a

1 answer

To evaluate the left-hand side of the equation

\[ x^{\frac{5}{6}} \cdot x^{\frac{3}{2}} = x^a, \]

we can use the property of exponents that states \( x^m \cdot x^n = x^{m+n} \).

  1. Add the exponents:

\[ \frac{5}{6} + \frac{3}{2}. \]

  1. To add these fractions, we first need a common denominator. The least common denominator of 6 and 2 is 6. We can convert \(\frac{3}{2}\) to a fraction with a denominator of 6:

\[ \frac{3}{2} = \frac{3 \cdot 3}{2 \cdot 3} = \frac{9}{6}. \]

  1. Now we can add the two fractions:

\[ \frac{5}{6} + \frac{9}{6} = \frac{5 + 9}{6} = \frac{14}{6}. \]

  1. Simplify \(\frac{14}{6}\):

\[ \frac{14}{6} = \frac{7}{3}. \]

So, we have

\[ x^{\frac{5}{6}} \cdot x^{\frac{3}{2}} = x^{\frac{7}{3}}. \]

  1. Therefore, we can equate this to the right-hand side:

\[ x^{a} = x^{\frac{7}{3}}. \]

From this, we can conclude that

\[ a = \frac{7}{3}. \]

Thus, the value of \(a\) in simplest form is

\[ \boxed{\frac{7}{3}}. \]