How do you divide y^ { - \frac { 11} { 6} } \div y ^ { - \frac { 5} { 2} }?

1 Answer
May 11, 2017

y^(2/3)

Explanation:

Rewrite it as a fraction:

y^(-11/6)/y^(-5/2)

If you have a negative exponent in the numerator, you can rewrite it with a positive exponent on the denominator and vice versa. I will rewrite #y^(-5/2) on the top:

y^(-11/6)y^(5/2)

Now you can add the exponents together:

y^(5/2-11/6)

Make common denominators:

y^(15/6-11/6)

Subtract:

y^(4/6)

Simplify:

y^(2/3)