Solve: (17^-3 × 17^3x)/17 - 17x Using Exponent Rules

Let's deal with the first term in the problem, which is the fraction,

For this, we'll recall two laws of exponents:

a. The law of exponents for multiplication between terms with identical bases:

$a^m\cdot a^n=a^{m+n}$b. The law of exponents for division between terms with identical bases:

$\frac{a^m}{a^n}=a^{m-n}$Let's apply these laws of exponents to the problem:

$$$\frac{17^{-3}\cdot17^{3x}}{17}-17x=\frac{17^{-3+3x}}{17}-17x=17^{-3+3x-1}-17x=17^{3x-4}-17x$where in the first stage we'll apply the law of exponents mentioned in 'a' above to the fraction's numerator, and in the next stage we'll apply the law of exponents mentioned in 'b' to the resulting expression, then we'll simplify the expression.

Therefore, the correct answer is answer a.