Evaluate 4*2^-1

$4 \cdot 2^{- 1}$

Step 1

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

$4 \cdot \frac{1}{2}$

Step 2

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

Factor $2$ out of $4$ .

$2 (2) \cdot \frac{1}{2}$

Cancel the common factor.

$2 \cdot 2 \cdot \frac{1}{2}$

Rewrite the expression.

$2$