Simplify xy^4x^-2

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

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

Move $x^{- 2}$ .

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

Multiply $x^{- 2}$ by $x$ .

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

$x^{- 2} x^{1} y^{4}$

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

$x^{- 2 + 1} y^{4}$

Add $- 2$ and $1$ .

$x^{- 1} y^{4}$

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

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

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

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