Question

The table shows a pattern of exponents.

Powers of 5
Value
5 cubed
125
5 squared
25
5 Superscript 1
5
5 Superscript 0
1
5 Superscript negative 1
One-fifth
5 Superscript negative 2
StartFraction 1 Over 25 EndFraction

What is the pattern as the exponents decrease?
subtract 5 from the previous value
subtract 100 from the previous value
divide the previous value by 5
divide the previous value by 25

Answer 1

The pattern in the table shows that as the exponents of 5 decrease, each value is obtained by dividing the previous value by 5.

- For example:
- \(5^3 = 125\)
- \(5^2 = 25\) (which is \(125 \div 5\))
- \(5^1 = 5\) (which is \(25 \div 5\))
- \(5^0 = 1\) (which is \(5 \div 5\))
- \(5^{-1} = \frac{1}{5}\) (which is \(1 \div 5\))
- \(5^{-2} = \frac{1}{25}\) (which is \(\frac{1}{5} \div 5\))

Therefore, the correct answer is: **divide the previous value by 5**.