Multipying & Dividing Rules
Quotient of Powers
Example 4
What is the quotient of x3 and x8?
Step 1. Verify the bases are the same.
Both terms have a base of x.
Step 2. Use the Quotient of a Power Rule to divide the terms.
*Note: This answer contains a negative exponent. However, an algebraic expression is in simplest form when it is written with only positive exponents.
Step 3. Write in simplest form.
This answer can be verified by doing the division in expanded form: 
More details on negative exponents will be presented in the "Zeros and Negative Exponents" book later in this unit.