Simplify 3x^-2y^-5

$3 x^{- 2} y^{- 5}$

Step 1

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

$3 \frac{1}{x^{2}} y^{- 5}$

Step 2

Combine $3$ and $\frac{1}{x^{2}}$ .

$\frac{3}{x^{2}} y^{- 5}$

Step 3

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

$\frac{3}{x^{2}} \cdot \frac{1}{y^{5}}$

Step 4

Combine.

$\frac{3 \cdot 1}{x^{2} y^{5}}$

Step 5

Multiply $3$ by $1$ .

$\frac{3}{x^{2} y^{5}}$