Fatima evaluated the expression StartFraction 4 m Superscript negative 3 Baseline n Superscript negative 2 Baseline Over m Superscript negative 1 Baseline n EndFraction, when m = negative 2 and n = 4. Her work is shown below.
StartFraction 4 m Superscript negative 3 Baseline n Superscript negative 2 Baseline Over m Superscript negative 1 Baseline n EndFraction = 4 m Superscript negative 2 Baseline n Superscript negative 3 Baseline = 4 (negative 2) Superscript negative 2 Baseline (4) Superscript negative 3 Baseline = StartFraction 1 Over 64 EndFraction times StartFraction 1 Over 64 EndFraction = StartFraction 1 Over 4,096 EndFraction
What was Fatima’s error?
She subtracted the exponents incorrectly when simplifying the expression.
She substituted the wrong values for the variables.
She did not correctly follow the order of operations by applying the exponent Negative 2 to 4 (negative 2).
She found an incorrect value for (Negative 8) Superscript negative 2 since the value should be negative.