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Raising a Product or Quotient to a Power

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Raising a Product or Quotient to a Power
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Raising a Product or Quotient to a Power

It is important to know some general rules about exponents:

$\text{Raising a product to a power:} && (x \cdot y)^n & = x^n \cdot y^n\\\text{Raising a quotient to a power:} && \left(\frac{x}{y} \right)^n & = \frac{x^n}{y^n}$

In radical notation, these properties are written as

$\text{Raising a product to a power:} && \sqrt[m]{x \cdot y} & = \sqrt[m]{x} \ \cdot \sqrt[m]{y}\\\text{Raising a quotient to a power:} && \sqrt[m]{\frac{x}{y}} & = \frac{\sqrt[m]{x}}{\sqrt[m]{y}}$

Exponent Rule #1

Whenever you multiply terms of the same base, you can add the exponents.

( x m ) ( x n ) = x( m + n )

Note: You cannot  add the exponents in this case: (x4)(y3) because x and y are different base terms.

Practice:

1. Simplify$(x^3)(x^4)$
2. Simplify $(q^6)(q^-2)$

Exponent Rule #2

Whenever you have an exponent expression that is raised to a power, you can multiply the exponent and power:

( xm ) n = x m n

Practice:

1. Simplify $(x^5)^6$
2. Simplify $(x^7)^3$
3. Simplify $(xy^2)^3$ (Note the "squared" applies to both x and y).

Exponent Rule #3

Anything to the power of zero is one.

$x^0=1$

Exponent Rule #4

If you are dividing quantities with the same base term, you can subtract the exponents.

Practice:

1. $Simplify: \frac{x^4}{x^3}$
2. $Simplify: \frac{x^-6}{x^4}$

Exponent Rule #5

Practice:

1. $Simplify: (\frac{x}{y})^3$

These are the basic rules, although there are many more laws of exponents that stem from these.