Rocky simplified an expression in three steps, as shown:

Question

x to the power of negative 5 multiplied by y to the power of 2, over y multiplied by x to the power of 3 multiplied by x to the power of 3 multiplied by y to the power of negative 5, the whole to the power of 2 equals x to the power of negative 10 multiplied by y to the power of 4, over y to the power of 2 multiplied by x to the power of 6 multiplied by x to the power of 6 multiplied by y to the power of negative 10 equals x to the power of negative 10 multiplied by y to the power of 4, over y to the power of negative 8 multiplied by x to the power of 12.
Which is the first incorrect step and why? (5 points)

Step 1, all the exponents are increased by 2

Step 1, all the exponents are multiplied by 2

Step 2, the exponents in the denominator are added during multiplication

Step 3, the exponents of the same base are added during division

Answer 1

The first incorrect step is Step 2, where the exponents in the denominator are added during multiplication. This is incorrect because when multiplying exponential expressions with the same base, the exponents should be added, not the exponents in the denominator.