Should I flip the negative sign? (9^5 / 8^-6) ^-7

[Gina]

Here's where I started:

(9^5 / 8^-6) ^-7

Multiplying each exponent by -7:

(9^5)^-7 = 9^-35

(8^-6)^-7 = 8^42

Gives me this:

9^-35 / 8^42

Should I flip it to this to get rid of the negative exponent ?:

8^42 / 9^35

...or should I leave it as the second example? I feel like I'm missing one last step.

(I haven't figured out the LaTex formatting yet... )

[stapel_eliz]

Here's where I started:

(9^5 / 8^-6) ^-7

You can flip at this point, to get:

. . . . .

Then you'd move the 8, with its power, down to the other side of the fraction line, and convert its power to a positive value.

9^-35 / 8^42

Should I flip it to this to get rid of the negative exponent ?

Yup! But flip only the part with the negative power!

. . . . .

[Gina]

That makes things much clearer. Thank you for your time and help (and for this site!)