Simplify (4^-3)/(4^-1)

$\frac{4^{- 3}}{4^{- 1}}$

Step 1

Move $4^{- 3}$ to the denominator using the negative exponent rule $b^{- n} = \frac{1}{b^{n}}$ .

$\frac{1}{4^{- 1} \cdot 4^{3}}$

Step 2

Multiply $4^{- 1}$ by $4^{3}$ by adding the exponents.

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$\frac{1}{4^{- 1 + 3}}$

Add $- 1$ and $3$ .

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

Step 3

Raise $4$ to the power of $2$ .

$\frac{1}{16}$

Step 4

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$\frac{1}{16}$

Decimal Form:

$0.0625$