How do you find the quotient #m^20divm^8#?

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Answer 1 · 2018-04-06T13:57:48

See a solution process below:

First, rewrite the expression as:

#m^20/m^8#

Now, use this rule of exponents to find the quotient:

#x^color(red)(a)/x^color(blue)(b) = x^(color(red)(a)-color(blue)(b))#

#m^color(red)(20)/m^color(blue)(8) => m^(color(red)(20)-color(blue)(8)) => m^12#

Answer 2 · 2018-04-06T14:01:43

#m^20dividem^8=m^12#

To find the quotient, it would help to first set the expression up like this:

#m^20dividem^8#

#=> m^20/m^8#

Given this, we can evaluate this a little easier.

When dividing two variables that are the same, but have different powers, we simply subtract the powers from each other to get the end value.

Knowing this, we can solve:

#m^20/m^8#

#=> m^(20-8)#

#=> m^12#