What is 3^-1 + 4^-1 ?

Question

asked Jul 4, 2021 63.7k views

2 Answers

Lucascaro · Answer 1 · 2021-07-08T11:54:30+0000

Answer:

The answer is

Explanation:

Using the rules of indices

${x}^( - y)$

can be written as

$\frac{1}{ {x}^(y) }$

So

${3}^( - 1)$

can be written as

(1)/(3)

and

${4}^( - 1)$

as

(1)/(4)

Add them

That's

(1)/(3) + (1)/(4)

Find the LCM

The LCM of 3 and 4 is 12

We have the final answer as

$(1)/(3) + (1)/(4) = (4 + 3)/(12) \\ = (7)/(12)$

Hope this helps you.