Basic Math Examples

$\frac{x^{- 1}}{x^{- 2} - y^{- 3}}$

Step 1

Move $x^{- 1}$ to the denominator using the negative exponent rule $b^{- n} = \frac{1}{b^{n}}$ .

$\frac{1}{(x^{- 2} - y^{- 3}) x}$

Step 2

Simplify the denominator.

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Step 2.1

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

$\frac{1}{(\frac{1}{x^{2}} - y^{- 3}) x}$

Step 2.2

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

$\frac{1}{(\frac{1}{x^{2}} - \frac{1}{y^{3}}) x}$

Step 2.3

To write $\frac{1}{x^{2}}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{y^{3}}{y^{3}}$ .

$\frac{1}{(\frac{1}{x^{2}} \cdot \frac{y^{3}}{y^{3}} - \frac{1}{y^{3}}) x}$

Step 2.4

To write $- \frac{1}{y^{3}}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{x^{2}}{x^{2}}$ .

$\frac{1}{(\frac{1}{x^{2}} \cdot \frac{y^{3}}{y^{3}} - \frac{1}{y^{3}} \cdot \frac{x^{2}}{x^{2}}) x}$

Step 2.5

Write each expression with a common denominator of $x^{2} y^{3}$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

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Step 2.5.1

Multiply $\frac{1}{x^{2}}$ by $\frac{y^{3}}{y^{3}}$ .

$\frac{1}{(\frac{y^{3}}{x^{2} y^{3}} - \frac{1}{y^{3}} \cdot \frac{x^{2}}{x^{2}}) x}$

Step 2.5.2

Multiply $\frac{1}{y^{3}}$ by $\frac{x^{2}}{x^{2}}$ .

$\frac{1}{(\frac{y^{3}}{x^{2} y^{3}} - \frac{x^{2}}{y^{3} x^{2}}) x}$

Step 2.5.3

Reorder the factors of $x^{2} y^{3}$ .

$\frac{1}{(\frac{y^{3}}{y^{3} x^{2}} - \frac{x^{2}}{y^{3} x^{2}}) x}$

Step 2.6

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$\frac{1}{\frac{y^{3} - x^{2}}{y^{3} x^{2}} x}$

Step 3

Simplify terms.

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Step 3.1

Combine $\frac{y^{3} - x^{2}}{y^{3} x^{2}}$ and $x$ .

$\frac{1}{\frac{(y^{3} - x^{2}) x}{y^{3} x^{2}}}$

Step 3.2

Reduce the expression $\frac{(y^{3} - x^{2}) x}{y^{3} x^{2}}$ by cancelling the common factors.

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Step 3.2.1

Factor $x$ out of $(y^{3} - x^{2}) x$ .

$\frac{1}{\frac{x (y^{3} - x^{2})}{y^{3} x^{2}}}$

Step 3.2.2

Factor $x$ out of $y^{3} x^{2}$ .

$\frac{1}{\frac{x (y^{3} - x^{2})}{x (y^{3} x)}}$

Step 3.2.3

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{1}{\frac{x (y^{3} - x^{2})}{x (y^{3} x)}}$

Step 3.2.4

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1}{\frac{y^{3} - x^{2}}{y^{3} x}}$

Step 4

Multiply the numerator by the reciprocal of the denominator.

$1 \frac{y^{3} x}{y^{3} - x^{2}}$

Step 5

Multiply $\frac{y^{3} x}{y^{3} - x^{2}}$ by $1$ .

$\frac{y^{3} x}{y^{3} - x^{2}}$