How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

Video transcript

- [Narrator] Let's get some practice with our exponent properties, especially when we have integer exponents. So, let's think about what four to the negative three times four to the fifth power is going to be equal to. And I encourage you to pause the video and think about it on your own. Well there's a couple of ways to do this. See look, I'm multiplying two things that have the same base, so this is going to be that base, four. And then I add the exponents. Four to the negative three plus five power which is equal to four to the second power. And that's just a straight forward exponent property, but you can also think about why does that actually make sense. Four to the negative 3 power, that is one over four to the third power, or you could view that as one over four times four times four. And then four to the fifth, that's five fours being multiplied together. So it's times four times four times four times four times four. And so notice, when you multiply this out, you're going to have five fours in the numerator and three fours in the denominator. And so, three of these in the denominator are going to cancel out with three of these in the numerator. And so you're going to be left with five minus three, or negative three plus five fours. So this four times four is the same thing as four squared. Now let's do one with variables. So let's say that you have A to the negative fourth power times A to the, let's say, A squared. What is that going to be? Well once again, you have the same base, in this case it's A, and so since I'm multiplying them, you can just add the exponents. So it's going to be A to the negative four plus two power. Which is equal to A to the negative two power. And once again, it should make sense. This right over here, that is one over A times A times A times A and then this is times A times A, so that cancels with that, that cancels with that, and you're still left with one over A times A, which is the same thing as A to the negative two power. Now, let's do it with some quotients. So, what if I were to ask you, what is 12 to the negative seven divided by 12 to the negative five power? Well, when you're dividing, you subtract exponents if you have the same base. So, this is going to be equal to 12 to the negative seven minus negative five power. You're subtracting the bottom exponent and so, this is going to be equal to 12 to the, subtracting a negative is the same thing as adding the positive, twelve to the negative two power. And once again, we just have to think about, why does this actually make sense? Well, you could actually rewrite this. 12 to the negative seven divided by 12 to the negative five, that's the same thing as 12 to the negative seven times 12 to the fifth power. If we take the reciprocal of this right over here, you would make exponent positive and then you would get exactly what we were doing in those previous examples with products. And so, let's just do one more with variables for good measure. Let's say I have X to the negative twentieth power divided by X to the fifth power. Well once again, we have the same base and we're taking a quotient. So, this is going to be X to the negative 20 minus five cause we have this one right over here in the denominator. So, this is going to be equal to X to the negative twenty-fifth power. And once again, you could view our original expression as X to the negative twentieth and having an X to the fifth in the denominator dividing by X to the fifth is the same thing as multiplying by X to the negative five. So here you just add the exponents and once again you would get X to the negative twenty-fifth power.

So, what is an exponent anyway? According to the Oxford dictionary, an exponent is defined as "a quantity representing the power to which a given number or expression is to be raised, usually expressed as a raised symbol beside the number or expression." Exponents are used in almost all levels of math, from algebra to calculus to physics. Here are two ways you can work with exponents when they show up in formulas and equations.

How to multiply exponents

You can multiply many exponential expressions together without having to change their form into the big or small numbers they represent. When multiplying exponents, the only requirement is that the bases of the exponential expressions have to be the same. So, you can multiply

How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

because the bases are not the same (although the exponents are).

To multiply powers of the same base, add the exponents together:

How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

If there’s more than one base in an expression with powers, you can combine the numbers with the same bases, find the values, and then write them all together. For example,

How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

Here's an example with a number that has no exponent showing:

How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

When there’s no exponent showing, such as with y, you assume that the exponent is 1, so in the above example, you write

How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

How to divide exponents

You can divide exponential expressions, leaving the answers as exponential expressions, as long as the bases are the same. To divide exponents (or powers) with the same base, subtract the exponents. Division is the opposite of multiplication, so it makes sense that because you add exponents when multiplying numbers with the same base, you subtract the exponents when dividing numbers with the same base.

For example,

How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

Pretty easy, huh? Now wrap your brain around this:

How to divide exponents with different bases and powers

Any number to the power of zero equals 1, as long as the base number is not 0.

About This Article

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  • Algebra ,

How do you divide with different powers?

To divide them, you take the exponent value in the numerator (the top exponent) and subtract the exponent value of the denominator (the bottom exponent).

How do you divide different bases?

First make up a partial or full multiplication table (prep for division using repeated subtraction). Then, divide using the scaffold method with the repeated subtraction method. Write your answer in a box above the scaffold. Then, check your answer by multiplying the divisor by the quotient and adding the remainder.