Pre-Algebra Examples

$- 3 {(4 x y^{- 1})}^{- 1}$

Step 1

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

$- 3 {(4 x \frac{1}{y})}^{- 1}$

Step 2

Multiply $4 x \frac{1}{y}$ .

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Step 2.1

Combine $4$ and $\frac{1}{y}$ .

$- 3 {(x \frac{4}{y})}^{- 1}$

Step 2.2

Combine $x$ and $\frac{4}{y}$ .

$- 3 {(\frac{x \cdot 4}{y})}^{- 1}$

Step 3

Move $4$ to the left of $x$ .

$- 3 {(\frac{4 \cdot x}{y})}^{- 1}$

Step 4

Change the sign of the exponent by rewriting the base as its reciprocal.

$- 3 \frac{y}{4 x}$

Step 5

Combine $- 3$ and $\frac{y}{4 x}$ .

$\frac{- 3 y}{4 x}$

Step 6

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$- \frac{3 y}{4 x}$