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Quotient to a Negative Exponent Property

The Quotient to a Negative Exponent Property states that raising a fraction to a negative power is equivalent to raising the reciprocal of that fraction to the corresponding positive power. If aa and bb are real numbers with a0a \neq 0 and b0b \neq 0, and nn is an integer, then:

(ab)n=(ba)n\left(\frac{a}{b}\right)^{-n} = \left(\frac{b}{a}\right)^n

To see why, consider (34)2\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^{-2}. Applying the definition of a negative exponent gives 1(34)2\frac{1}{\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^2}. Squaring the fraction in the denominator produces 1916\frac{1}{\frac{9}{16}}. Simplifying this complex fraction yields 169\frac{16}{9}, which equals (43)2\left(\frac{4}{3}\right)^2. The net effect is that the original fraction 34\frac{3}{4} was replaced by its reciprocal 43\frac{4}{3}, and the exponent changed from 2-2 to 22.

In short: to simplify a fraction raised to a negative exponent, take the reciprocal of the fraction and change the sign of the exponent to positive.

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Updated 2026-04-29

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