Find the numerical equivalent of 5^10 ⋅ 5−^6 The answer should not contain any exponent expression or decimals. Show your work.

1 answer

To find the numerical equivalent of \( 5^{10} \cdot 5^{-6} \), we can use the property of exponents which states that when multiplying expressions with the same base, we add the exponents:

\[ a^m \cdot a^n = a^{m+n} \]

In this case, our base \( a \) is \( 5 \), \( m = 10 \), and \( n = -6 \). Thus, we can add the exponents:

\[ 5^{10} \cdot 5^{-6} = 5^{10 + (-6)} = 5^{10 - 6} = 5^4 \]

Next, we calculate \( 5^4 \):

\[ 5^4 = 5 \cdot 5 \cdot 5 \cdot 5 \]

Calculating this step-by-step:

  1. \( 5 \cdot 5 = 25 \)
  2. \( 25 \cdot 5 = 125 \)
  3. \( 125 \cdot 5 = 625 \)

Thus,

\[ 5^4 = 625 \]

Therefore, the numerical equivalent of \( 5^{10} \cdot 5^{-6} \) is

\[ \boxed{625} \]