Question

Simplify 8^-7 x 8^5 please show work

Answer 1

When you are multiplying exponents with the same base, you can add the exponents. This is represented as:

$x^a \cdot x^b = x^{(a +b)}$

In our case we are multiplying exponents with the same base 8 and exponents -7 and 5. The sum of -7 and 5 is -2, so our answer is $\boxed{8^{-2}}$.