Simplify x^3y^-4x^2

$x^{3} y^{- 4} x^{2}$

Step 1

Multiply $x^{3}$ by $x^{2}$ by adding the exponents.

Move $x^{2}$ .

$x^{2} x^{3} y^{- 4}$

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

$x^{2 + 3} y^{- 4}$

Add $2$ and $3$ .

$x^{5} y^{- 4}$

Step 2

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

$x^{5} \frac{1}{y^{4}}$

Step 3

Combine $x^{5}$ and $\frac{1}{y^{4}}$ .

$\frac{x^{5}}{y^{4}}$