How do you simplify #(a ^ { 3} ) ^ { - 3}#?

1 Answer
Emily
Jan 24, 2017

This becomes #1/a^9#.

Explanation:

By a rule of exponents, when an exponent is raised to an exponent, the two exponents should be multiplied together. Therefore, we multiply the two exponents in the problem.

#a^(3*-3)#

This can be simplified to the following.

#a^-9#

When a number or variable is raised to a negative number, it is best to follow this formula.

#b^-c=1/b^c#

Applying this formula to our problems, we see the following is true.

#a^-9=1/a^9#

Without knowing the value of a, this cannot be simplified any further.

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