In Powerful Fractions, we learnt about the fractional exponent rule. Then, in Working with Powerful Fractions we learnt to apply this rule to terms with numerical bases. Now we are going to learn how to apply this rule to terms with fractional bases.
It's basically the same process that we've already learnt. We just need to remember that we need to apply the fractional exponent to both the numerator and the denominator.
$\left(\frac{x}{y}\right)^{\frac{m}{n}}=\frac{x^{\frac{m}{n}}}{y^{\frac{m}{n}}}$(xy)mn=xmnymn
We could also write this as $\frac{\sqrt[n]{x^m}}{\sqrt[n]{y^m}}$n√xmn√ym
Don't worry if this formula looks scary with all its algebraic terms. We'll run through some examples now so you can see it in action!
Examples
Question 1
Fully simplify $\left(\frac{25}{36}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}$(2536)12.
Question 2
Evaluate by first expressing as a radical. $\left(\frac{8}{125}\right)^{\frac{2}{3}}$(8125)23