Algebra Examples

$(5^{- 1}) (5^{- 3})$

Step 1

Multiply $5^{- 1}$ by $5^{- 3}$ by adding the exponents.

Tap for more steps...

Step 1.1

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$5^{- 1 - 3}$

Step 1.2

Subtract $3$ from $- 1$ .

$5^{- 4}$

Step 2

Rewrite the expression using the negative exponent rule $b^{- n} = \frac{1}{b^{n}}$ .

$\frac{1}{5^{4}}$

Step 3

Raise $5$ to the power of $4$ .

$\frac{1}{625}$

Step 4

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$\frac{1}{625}$

Decimal Form:

$0.0016$