They are the reciprocals of the positive exponents.
Thus, x-a = 1/xa
Chat with our AI personalities
You can have negative exponents anywhere. When they are in the denominator, they are equivalent to positive exponents in the numerator of a fraction.
by doing reciprocal
A negative exponent becomes positive in the reciprocal. So if you have a number a^x where x is negative, then, a^x = 1/(a^-x) and, since x is negative, -x is positive.
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
Anything with a zero exponent is 1. Positive exponents tell how many times to multiply a base number. Negative exponents tell how many times to divide a base number. Negative exponents are the reciprocals of positive ones. 10^2 = 100 10^1 = 10 10^0 = 1 10^-1 = 1/10 10^-2 = 1/100 3^2 = 9 3^1 = 3 3^0 = 1 3^-1 = 1/3 3^-2 = 1/9