How do you simplify #\frac{36w^{2}}{4w^{5}}#?

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Answer 1 · 2018-03-14T00:07:04

This is as simple as it gets #9*w^-3#.

We're starting with #(36*w^2)/(4*w^5)#.

Look at the 36. You could change that to #18*2#, but you could also do #9*4#. That will work better. So we have

#(9*4*w^2)/(4*w^5)#

Now cancel.

#(9*cancel(4)*w^2)/(cancel(4)*w^5)#

Now we need to attack the #w^2 and w^5#.

You can legally move the #w^5# to the top of the fraction if you change the sign of the exponent. So

#(9*w^2)/w^5 = 9*w^2*w^-5#

To simplify that, add the exponents.

#9*w^(2-5) = 9*w^-3#

I hope this helps,
Steve