How do you simplify and write #x^4 / x^9# with positive exponents?

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Answer 1 · 2016-07-09T11:54:29

#1/x^5#

To simplify this, we can take out common factors in the top and bottom:

#x^4/x^9 = (x*x*x*x)/(x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x) = (cancelx*cancelx*cancelx*cancelx)/(cancelx*cancelx*cancelx*cancelx*x*x*x*x*x)#

And we can get #1/x^5#.

Or we could write it out using the following:

#a^b/a^c = a^(b-c)#

#x^4/x^9 = x^(4-9) = x^-5#

We must also use this theory:

#a^-b = 1/a^b#

#x^-5 = 1/x^5#

And that's your simplified answer.