To divide terms with exponents, the base of both exponents must be the same. In this case they are so divide the coefficients and subtract the exponents:

\( \frac{-8b^8}{7b^3} \)
\( \frac{-8}{7} \) b^{(8 - 3)}
-1\(\frac{1}{7}\)b⁵

A rational number (or fraction) is represented as a ratio between two integers, a and b, and has the form \({a \over b}\) where a is the numerator and b is the denominator. An improper fraction (\({5 \over 3} \)) has a numerator with a greater absolute value than the denominator and can be converted into a mixed number (\(1 {2 \over 3} \)) which has a whole number part and a fractional part.

The ratio of football cards to baseball cards is 9:2 and the ratio of baseball cards to basketball cards is 9:1. To solve this problem, we need the baseball card side of each ratio to be equal so we need to rewrite the ratios in terms of a common number of baseball cards. (Think of this like finding the common denominator when adding fractions.) The ratio of football to baseball cards can also be written as 81:18 and the ratio of baseball cards to basketball cards as 18:2. So, the ratio of football cards to basketball cards is football:baseball, baseball:basketball or 81:18, 18:2 which reduces to 81:2.

A number in scientific notation has the format 0.000 x 10^exponent. To convert to scientific notation, move the decimal point to the right or the left until the number is a decimal between 1 and 10. The exponent of the 10 is the number of places you moved the decimal point and is positive if you moved the decimal point to the left and negative if you moved it to the right:

3,189,000 in scientific notation is 3.189 x 10⁶

To take the square root of a fraction, break the fraction into two separate roots then calculate the square root of the numerator and denominator separately:

\( \sqrt{\frac{4}{25}} \)
\( \frac{\sqrt{4}}{\sqrt{25}} \)
\( \frac{\sqrt{2^2}}{\sqrt{5^2}} \)
\(\frac{2}{5}\)