16-week Lesson 2 (8-week Lesson 1) Exponent of Zero and Negative Exponents

When an exponent 𝑛 is a positive integer, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, … , exponential

notation represents the product of repeated factors (the base times itself
some number of times)
o 𝑎2 = 𝑎 ∙ 𝑎
 the exponent of 2 indicates there are 2 factors of 𝑎
o 𝑏5 = 𝑏 ∙ 𝑏 ∙ 𝑏 ∙ 𝑏 ∙ 𝑏
 the exponent of 5 indicates there are 5 factors of 𝑏
o 𝑥𝑛 = 𝑥 ∙ 𝑥 ∙ … ∙ 𝑥
 the exponent of 𝑛 indicates there are 𝑛 factors of 𝑥

What about when an exponent 𝑛 is not a positive integer? In this section

we’ll look at exponents of zero and exponents that are negative integers.

One way to approach exponents of zero is to think about a term divided by

𝑥2
itself; for instance, 𝑥 2 = 1 because anything over itself is one. However,
𝑥2
what happens if we simplified 2 using the Quotient Rule that was
𝑥
discussed earlier?

𝑥2
2
= 𝑥 2−2 = 𝑥 0
𝑥
𝑥2 0 𝑥2
This shows that 𝑥 2 = 𝑥 , and since we already know that 𝑥 2 = 1, that
means 𝑥 0 must equal 1. This leads us to the Zero-Exponent Rule.

Zero-Exponent Rule:
- any base taken to the power of zero is 1
𝑥2
o the exception to this rule is a base of zero, because using the 𝑥 2
example, you cannot have a denominator of zero
- this is true for a factor like 𝑥 0 = 1, as well as a product like
0
7 6 )0 −3𝑥 2 𝑦
(5𝑥 𝑦 =1 or a quotient like ( ) =1
4𝑦 9

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16-week Lesson 2 (8-week Lesson 1) Exponent of Zero and Negative Exponents

o 𝑥𝑦 0 = ○ (𝑥𝑦)0 =

o −40 = ○ (−4)0 =

The final topic in this lesson is negative exponents. Our goal when
working with negative exponents is to make them positive, since we have
already covered exponent rules with positive integers. One way to
understand how to change a negative exponent to a positive exponent is to
think about canceling common factors within a fraction. For instance,
𝑥2 𝑥∙𝑥
= 𝑥∙𝑥∙𝑥, and since this fraction has common factors in the numerator and
𝑥3
1
denominator, we can simply cancel two factors of 𝑥 from both to get 𝑥.
𝑥2
However, what happens if we simplify using the Quotient Rule?
𝑥3

𝑥2 2−3 −1
= 𝑥 = 𝑥
𝑥3
𝑥2 1
So what we see is that 𝑥 3 simplifies to both 𝑥 −1 and 𝑥; and since 𝑥 −1 and
1 𝑥2
are both equal to 𝑥 3 , they are also equal to each other. So this shows that
𝑥
to change the sign of an exponent, we can simply take the reciprocal of the
factor that has a negative exponent.

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16-week Lesson 2 (8-week Lesson 1) Exponent of Zero and Negative Exponents

Negative Exponent Rule:

- to change the sign of an exponent, take the reciprocal of the
expression or factor with the negative exponent
1 1 1
o 𝑥 −2 = 𝑥 2 (−3)2 ○ 𝑥𝑦 −5 = 𝑥 ∙ 𝑦 5
𝑥
= 𝑦5
 notice we do not take the reciprocal of the exponent, but
rather the factor that contains a negative exponent
- remember that when an exponent is a positive integer, exponential
notation represents the product of repeated factors (something times
itself times some number of times)
- the sign of the base does NOT change
1
o (−2)−4 = (−3)2 ○ −2−4 =
1
= (−3)(−3)

- again, this is true for a factor or a product/quotient

o Product to a Power ○ Quotient to a Power
−4
4 )−3 3𝑥 3 𝑦 2
 (−2𝑥 = ■ ( −𝑥𝑦 3 ) =

4
1 −𝑥𝑦 3
(−2𝑥 4 )3
(3𝑥 3 𝑦 2 )

4
1 (−1)4 (𝑥)4 (𝑦 3 )
(−2)3 (𝑥 4 )3 (3)4 (𝑥 3 )4 (𝑦 2 )4

𝟏 1𝑥 4 𝑦 12
−𝟖𝒙𝟏𝟐 81𝑥 12 𝑦 8

𝟏 𝒚𝟒
−𝟖𝒙𝟏𝟐 𝟖𝟏𝒙𝟖
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16-week Lesson 2 (8-week Lesson 1) Exponent of Zero and Negative Exponents

Example 1: Simplify each expression COMPLETELY. Do NOT leave

negative exponents in your answers.
a. −8𝑦 2 (3𝑦 3 )−4 b. (−8𝑦)2 (3𝑦 −3 )−4
b.
1
−8𝑦 2 (3𝑦3 )4 (−8)2 (𝑦)2 (3)−4 (𝑦 −3 )−4
−8𝑦 2 1
64𝑦 2 𝑦12
81𝑦12 34
−𝟖 64𝑦 2 1 𝑦 12
𝟖𝟏𝒚𝟏𝟎 1 81 1

−8 𝟔𝟒𝒚𝟏𝟒
81𝑦10 𝟖𝟏
5 0 3 2
1 4 −3 √5 2𝑥 4 −𝑥 −5
c. (2 𝑥 𝑦 ) (− 7 𝑥 −𝜋 ) d. (𝑦 −7) ( 2𝑦 6 )
d.

−8𝑦 2 −1 2
(2𝑥 𝑦 4 7 )3
( )
81𝑦12 2𝑥 5 𝑦 6
−8𝑦 2 1
8𝑥 12 𝑦 21
81𝑦12 4𝑥 10 𝑦 12
−8𝑦 2 8𝑥 12 𝑦 21
81𝑦12 4𝑥 10 𝑦 12
−8𝑦 2
81𝑦12
𝟐𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟗
0 −1 −3 1 5 −2𝑥 −4
3
−2𝑥 6
−2
−1 ( −4 )2 𝑥 𝑦 −4 3
e. −3 6𝑥 ( 4𝑦 3 ) (2 𝑥 𝑦 ) f. ( ) ( )
𝑦7 𝑦5
f. 𝑎
5
1 6 2 1 −3 𝑦3
−1 ∙ 3 (𝑥 4 ) (4𝑦 4 ) (2𝑥 4 )
3
1 36 4𝑦 4 𝑦 15
− 3 ∙ 𝑥8 ∙ ( ) ∙ 32𝑥 20
1
1 36 64𝑦 12 𝑦 15
− 3 ∙ 𝑥8 ∙ ∙ 32𝑥 20
1
36∙64𝑦 27
−
3∙32𝑥 28
𝟐𝟒𝒚𝟐𝟕
−
𝒙𝟐𝟖
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16-week Lesson 2 (8-week Lesson 1) Exponent of Zero and Negative Exponents
1 −1
1 −1 ( 𝑥 −3 𝑦 0 )
g. ( 𝑥 −5 𝑦 2 ) (9𝑥 2 𝑦 3 )−2 h. 2
3 𝑥𝑦 −2
h. 𝑎
1 −1 −3 −1 0 −1
( ) (𝑥 ) (𝑦 )
2
𝑥𝑦 −2

2𝑥 3 (1)
𝑥𝑦 −2

2𝑥 3 𝑦 2
𝑥

𝟐𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟐
2 0 −1 0 −2 16 −1
i. −3 + 7 − 2 j. −𝜋 + 4 +(7)

0 1 7 1
−1 ∙ π + +( )
42 16

1 7
−1 ∙ 1 + 16 + 16

1 7
−1 + 16 + 16

16 1 7
− 16 + 16 + 16

𝟏
−
𝟐

Answers to Examples:
−8 64𝑦 14 𝑥 20 2 9 −24𝑦 27
1a. ; 1b. ; 1c. ; 1d. 2𝑥 𝑦 ; 1e. ;
81𝑦 10 81 32𝑦 15 𝑥 28
−2 𝑥 2 2 17 1
1f. ; 1g. ; 1h. 2𝑥 𝑦 ; 1i. − ; 1j. − 2
𝑥 24 𝑦 11 27𝑦 8 2