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Quotient to a Power Property for Exponents

The Quotient to a Power Property for Exponents provides a shortcut for raising a fraction to a power. If aa and bb are real numbers, b0b \neq 0, and mm is a whole number, then:

(ab)m=ambm\left(\frac{a}{b}\right)^m = \frac{a^m}{b^m}

In words: to raise a fraction to a power, raise both the numerator and the denominator to that power separately. The property follows from the definition of exponents applied to fraction multiplication. Consider (xy)3\left(\frac{x}{y}\right)^3: by definition, this means xyxyxy\frac{x}{y} \cdot \frac{x}{y} \cdot \frac{x}{y}. Multiplying the numerators together and the denominators together gives xxxyyy=x3y3\frac{x \cdot x \cdot x}{y \cdot y \cdot y} = \frac{x^3}{y^3}. Each part of the fraction is raised to the exponent individually.

A numerical check confirms the rule: (23)2=?2232\left(\frac{2}{3}\right)^2 \stackrel{?}{=} \frac{2^2}{3^2}. The left side gives 2323=49\frac{2}{3} \cdot \frac{2}{3} = \frac{4}{9}, and the right side gives 49\frac{4}{9} ✓.

This property is the division counterpart to the Product to a Power Property, which distributes an exponent across factors in a product.

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Updated 2026-05-01

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