Math question?

Question

I cant make it on the computer but its a negative sign and the two and a little three. I know that the two and the three represent two to the third power, but is it negative two to the third power or the opposite of two to the third power. I also know that it would not change the answer, but i need to know how you would say it.

Answer 1

You are asking what is the value of -2³. Fortunately you get the same answer either way. If you interpret it as (-2)³ you get -8. If you interpret it as -(2³) you also get -8.

But say the question was -3². Should you evaluate the exponent before the unary negation operation? In printed mathematics, the convention is to do the exponentiation first, then the negation. So this would be -9. But in some programming languages (like VBA in Excel) the unary negation takes precendece (is evaluated first) so the answer would be 9.

Whenever possible, I would add parentheses to clarify what you mean. But for mathematics, use the PEMDAS rule and treat the minus as a subtraction. Exponent first, then negation.
-3² --> -(3²) = -9

Answer 2

-2^3 is the opposite of 2 to the third power
(-2)^3 is negative 2 to the third power

Answer 3

that would be 2 x 2 x 2 = 8

Answer 4

-2 to the third power

This means -2*-2*-2

It is the same as the negative of 2 to the third power,but expected is -2 to the third power

Answer 5

you would read it as negative two to the third power or negative two cubed