You can have negative exponents anywhere. When they are in the denominator, they are equivalent to positive exponents in the numerator of a fraction.
Chat with our AI personalities
Put the number with the exponent in the denominator of a fraction and take off the negative symbol. The numerator in that fraction should be 1. Example: 8-2 Converts to: 1 --- 82
by doing reciprocal
If the numerator is negative and the denominator is positive then the fraction will be negative. If the numerator is negative and the denominator is negative too then the fraction will be positive.
They are the reciprocals of the positive exponents. Thus, x-a = 1/xa
A negative exponent simply means that the base is on the wrong side of the fraction line.For example, if you have x-2, you can turn this into a positive exponent by moving the base to the denominator and changing the sign on the exponent. The result would be:1--x2