Solve for a: Simplifying (a³ᵇ)/(a²ᵇ) × aᵇ Using Exponent Rules

Question

Solve for a:

a3ba2b×ab= \frac{a^{3b}}{a^{2b}}\times a^b=

Video Solution

Solution Steps

00:00 Simplify the expression
00:05 Move the product to the numerator
00:12 When multiplying powers with equal bases
00:16 The power of the result equals the sum of the exponents
00:21 We'll use this formula in our exercise and add the exponents
00:31 When dividing powers with equal bases
00:37 The power of the result equals the difference of the exponents
00:40 We'll use this formula in our exercise and subtract the exponents
00:46 And this is the solution to the question

Step-by-Step Solution

Let's first deal with the first term in the multiplication, noting that the terms in the numerator and denominator have identical bases, so we'll use the power rule for division between terms with the same base:

aman=amn \frac{a^m}{a^n}=a^{m-n} We'll apply for the first term in the expression:

a3ba2bab=a3b2bab=abab \frac{a^{3b}}{a^{2b}}\cdot a^b=a^{3b-2b}\cdot a^b=a^b\cdot a^b where we also simplified the expression we got as a result of subtracting the exponents of the first term,

Next, we'll notice that the two terms in the multiplication have identical bases, so we'll use the power rule for multiplication between terms with identical bases:

aman=am+n a^m\cdot a^n=a^{m+n} We'll apply to the problem:

abab=ab+b=a2b a^b\cdot a^b=a^{b+b}=a^{2b} Therefore, the correct answer is A.

Answer

a2b a^{2b}