Simplify 5m^5m^-8

$5 m^{5} m^{- 8}$

Step 1

Multiply $m^{5}$ by $m^{- 8}$ by adding the exponents.

Move $m^{- 8}$ .

$5 (m^{- 8} m^{5})$

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

$5 m^{- 8 + 5}$

Add $- 8$ and $5$ .

$5 m^{- 3}$

Step 2

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

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

Step 3

Combine $5$ and $\frac{1}{m^{3}}$ .

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