Evaluate 8^-1+3^-1

$8^{- 1} + 3^{- 1}$

Step 1

Simplify each term.

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

$\frac{1}{8} + 3^{- 1}$

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

$\frac{1}{8} + \frac{1}{3}$

Step 2

To write $\frac{1}{8}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{3}{3}$ .

$\frac{1}{8} \cdot \frac{3}{3} + \frac{1}{3}$

Step 3

To write $\frac{1}{3}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{8}{8}$ .

$\frac{1}{8} \cdot \frac{3}{3} + \frac{1}{3} \cdot \frac{8}{8}$

Step 4

Write each expression with a common denominator of $24$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

Multiply $\frac{1}{8}$ by $\frac{3}{3}$ .

$\frac{3}{8 \cdot 3} + \frac{1}{3} \cdot \frac{8}{8}$

Multiply $8$ by $3$ .

$\frac{3}{24} + \frac{1}{3} \cdot \frac{8}{8}$

Multiply $\frac{1}{3}$ by $\frac{8}{8}$ .

$\frac{3}{24} + \frac{8}{3 \cdot 8}$

Multiply $3$ by $8$ .

$\frac{3}{24} + \frac{8}{24}$

Step 5

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$\frac{3 + 8}{24}$

Step 6

Add $3$ and $8$ .

$\frac{11}{24}$

Step 7

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$\frac{11}{24}$

Decimal Form:

$0.458\overline{3}$