What is (-5y^5 + 7y^4) -: (-y)?

1 Answer
May 24, 2018

5y^4-7y^3

Explanation:

When dividing exponents, it is just subtraction. The -y is actually -y^1. Since the numerator has the same variable and nothing is being multiplied or divided in it, we can just subtract 1 from each exponent.

-5y^5 would just be -5y^4 and 7y^4 would become 7y^3.

Now the denominator is not gone. The y is gone, but there is still a -1 there. All this means is you need to switch the signs up top. The final simplified solution would be

5y^4-7y^3