Evaluate 16^(-1/4)

$16^{- \frac{1}{4}}$

Step 1

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

$\frac{1}{16^{\frac{1}{4}}}$

Step 2

Simplify the denominator.

Rewrite $16$ as $2^{4}$ .

$\frac{1}{{(2^{4})}^{\frac{1}{4}}}$

Apply the power rule and multiply exponents, ${(a^{m})}^{n} = a^{m n}$ .

$\frac{1}{2^{4 (\frac{1}{4})}}$

Cancel the common factor of $4$ .

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{1}{2^{4 (\frac{1}{4})}}$

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1}{2^{1}}$

Evaluate the exponent.

$\frac{1}{2}$

Step 3

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$\frac{1}{2}$

Decimal Form:

$0.5$