Name: ivy

Who is asking: Student
Level: Middle

Question:
I understand how to figure out for example 4 to the power of 3,what I don't understand is how to figure it out using both negative numbers and negative exponents,as an exaple -4 to the power of 6 and what makes this different that (-5) to the power of 7,please help me if you can.I am an adult taking correspondence and finding it quite frustrating.thanks again for any help you can provide

Hi Ivy,

The 3 in the expression 4 ³ tells you to multiply 4 by itself 3 times. Thus

4 ³ = 444 = 64 Similarly (-5) ⁷ = (-5)(-5)(-5)(-5)(-5)(-5)(-5) = - 78125

The expression -4 ⁶ should be read -(4 ⁶) however. It is

- 4 ⁶ = - 444444 = - 4096

Go to Math Central