To simplify the expression using only positive exponents, we can start by moving all the variables with negative exponents to the denominator as positive exponents:
21 xy
----------
8x^8 y^2
= (21/8) * x^(1-8) * y^(1-2)
= (21/8) * x^(-7) * y^(-1)
Now, to eliminate the negative exponents, we can move the variables to the numerator by changing the sign of the exponent:
= (21/8) * (1/x^7) * (1/y)
= 21 / (8x^7y)
Fully simplify using only positive exponents.
21 xy
----------
8x^8 y^2
do it correctly
1 answer