Simplify (5^-1)/(5^2)

$\frac{5^{- 1}}{5^{2}}$

Move $5^{- 1}$ to the denominator using the negative exponent rule $b^{- n} = \frac{1}{b^{n}}$ .

$\frac{1}{5^{2} \cdot 5}$

Multiply $5^{2}$ by $5$ by adding the exponents.

Multiply $5^{2}$ by $5$ .

Raise $5$ to the power of $1$ .

$\frac{1}{5^{2} \cdot 5^{1}}$

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

$\frac{1}{5^{2 + 1}}$

Add $2$ and $1$ .

$\frac{1}{5^{3}}$

Raise $5$ to the power of $3$ .

$\frac{1}{125}$

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$\frac{1}{125}$

Decimal Form:

$0.008$