Alright, so I'm doing questions on exponent laws for my grade 11 math couse, and I came across one and I've no idea how to answer it. Could someone please explain step by step? According to textbook, answer should be 16:

Question

(2^3) / [(2^0)-(2^-1)]

That "-1" is a negative exponent in the last bit, just so you know.

Answer 1

Some of the exponential laws state that:
a⁰=1
a¹=a
a^-b=1/a^b
In your case, a=2 (the base).
So these laws should enable you to evaluate each term of the denominator.

The answer should indeed be 16.

I appreciate your having inserted sufficient parentheses to render the expression unambiguous.

Answer 2

I hope I'm not asking too much, but it would be ace if you would type out the problem and the path to solving it just so I can compare and see where I'm going wrong?

Answer 3

Here it is. Post if help is needed.
(2^3) / [(2^0)-(2^-1)]
=8/(2^0-2^-1)
=8/(1- 1/2¹)
=8/(1- 1/2)
=8/(1/2)
=16