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Algebra

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Source: — Problem Solving |

by truplayer256 » Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:41 am
Our best bet here would be to plug in the answer choices. First off, eliminate all the answer choices that are going to give us a negative answer. Remember that a negative number raised to an odd power always gives us a negative number as the result. From this rule, we can automatically eliminate choices A and E. We're now left with B, C, and D.

B.) (-1/5)^(-2)=1/(-1/5)^(2)=1/(1/25)=25

C.) (-1/5)^(0)=1. Anything number except 0 raised to the 0 power is always equal to 1.

D.) (-1/5)^(2)=1/25

We can clearly see that 25 is greater than both 1 and 1/25. So B is our answer.
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by PussInBoots » Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:15 pm
(-1/5)^(-n) = 1 / [ (-1/5)^n ] = 1 / [ 1^n / (-5)^n ] = (-5) ^n / (1)^n = (-5)^n
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