Multipying & Dividing Rules
Introduction
In previous courses, when working with the exponent on a number the instructions were to do the exponential operation. For example, 24 should be rewritten as 16, because it is the simplest form of 
. However with variables, exponents are used to simplify expressions, for example x7 is the simplified version of 
.
Example 1 Simplify 
.
This example is the multiplication of "y" 5 times, so it is simplified by writing: y5.
Example 2 Simplify (3a)(3a)(3a)(3a).
Step 1. Rearrange so that all numbers are grouped and all variables are grouped.
Step 2. Multiply the numbers.
Step 3. Use exponents to simplify the variables.
*Note: Remember that when taking powers of negative numbers, you must take into account how many times the sign is being multiplied. Even powers of negative numbers create a positive number and odd powers of negative numbers create a negative number.