A negative exponent is equivalent to the inverse of the same number with a positive exponent. In other words:

There is nothing special about solving a problem that includes negative exponentials. It's just an intermediate step that you may or may not want to complete to make things simpler. The best way to get comfortable with negative exponents is to work a few example problems that use them. Here are some samples:

Samples:

Perhaps you'd like to try solving some equations with negative exponents on variables. This works just like solving any other equation. Don't be scared by the fact that the exponent is negative. Just work it out and remember to "flip over" (invert) the number if it has a negative exponent.

Example:

Solve the following for x:

Solution:

You can see a negative exponent, so what's the first thing you might want to do? I would try to get the exponent to be positive. So, following our definition, just flip over the number and make the exponent positive!