Why is 10 to the power of negative 1 equal to 1 divided by 10?

When we raise a number to a negative exponent, it is the same as taking the reciprocal of the number raised to the positive exponent. So, 10 to the power of -1 is the same as 1 divided by 10 to the power of 1. Since 10 to the power of 1 is 10, the reciprocal of 10 is 1 divided by 10, which equals 0.1 or 1/10.