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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from blaine, a student: Why does -2^2 = -4 |
Hi Blaine,
To evaluate -22 you perform the power operation first (22) before the negation so -22 = -(22) = -4. The order of operations is sometimes referred to as bedmas. If you want to express -2 times -2 using the power (sometimes called the exponential) notation you would write (-2)2 since (-2)2 = (-2) × (-2) = 4.
I hope this helps,
Penny
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