Simplify -18a^2b^-3

$- 18 a^{2} b^{- 3}$

Step 1

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

$- 18 a^{2} \frac{1}{b^{3}}$

Step 2

Multiply $- 18 a^{2} \frac{1}{b^{3}}$ .

Combine $- 18$ and $\frac{1}{b^{3}}$ .

$a^{2} \frac{- 18}{b^{3}}$

Combine $a^{2}$ and $\frac{- 18}{b^{3}}$ .

$\frac{a^{2} \cdot - 18}{b^{3}}$

Step 3

Move $- 18$ to the left of $a^{2}$ .

$\frac{- 18 \cdot a^{2}}{b^{3}}$

Step 4

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$- \frac{18 a^{2}}{b^{3}}$