Lesson 36 Distributive Property of Rational Expressions that Contain Positive Exponents Since variables stand for unspecified real numbers, all the rules for real numbers also apply to variables. Thus fractions that contain variables are multiplied by using the same rule – numerator x numerator and denominator x denominator.

Lesson 36 cont. Use the distributive property to expand: 1. 2. 3.

Minus Signs & Negative Exponents A minus sign in front of an expression indicates the opposite of the expression, whereas a negative exponent has a meaning that is entirely different. 42 = 16 4-2 = 1 = 1 42 16