Fractional Exponents

The problems in this lesson cover fractional exponents. For example, to simplify [8^6]^(-1/18), we have a power taken to a fraction exponent. So we first use the power rule, which tells us to multiply the exponent of 6 times the negative fractional exponent of -6/18 to get 8^(-6/18), which simplifies to 8^(-1/3), or 1 over 8^(1/3), which is 1 over the cube root 8, or 1/2. Notice how many steps it takes to simplify problems with negative fractional exponents. Decimal exponents are also covered, which can be converted to fractional exponents as a first step. No fractional exponents calculator is required, and a self-test serves as an interactive fractional exponents worksheet.