My daughter wants to know the answer for homework and I have no idea because I never learned it!
2007-12-10 13:01:00 · 13 answers · asked by iluvmyhorsemorethenanything1204 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
darn
I ended up just saying 1/27
anyway, I remember it now. its not -1/9! where'd you hear that?
2007-12-10 13:14:26 · update #1
(-3)^-2 = 1/(-3)² = 1/9
2007-12-10 13:04:37 · answer #1 · answered by Philo 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
When you have a negative power, you use the reciprocal of the number to evaluate the equation. This means that is 1/ n -2. So -3(-2) will be 1/-32. Since, -32 is 9, that means that -3(-2) will be 1/9.
Note: Whenever 2 or -2 is used above it is an exponent, which can not be done with this word processor.
2007-12-10 21:19:06 · answer #2 · answered by The Teacher 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1/9
2007-12-10 21:04:20 · answer #3 · answered by Jen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
-3^-2 = 1/(-3)^2
= 1/9
2007-12-10 21:06:46 · answer #4 · answered by Zi Yang 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you put a number to a negative power, you multiply the number by its reciprocal by its reciprocal instead of itself by itself. The easiest way to do it is simply finish the problem in normal form, then put 1 over the answer.
-3^2=9
-3^-2=1/9
The reason it's not -9 or 1/-9 is because a negative multiplied by a negative is always a positive.
2007-12-10 21:12:35 · answer #5 · answered by shortie_212003 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
(-3)^(-2) = 1 / (-3)^2 = 1 / 9
2007-12-10 21:08:37 · answer #6 · answered by jimbob 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
(- 3)^(- 2)
= 1 / (- 3)^2
= 1 / 9
2007-12-10 21:07:08 · answer #7 · answered by Madhukar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It actually depends on if the negative in front of the 3 is in parentheses or not. If it is inside parentheses, such as (-3)^-2, then it is 1/9.
If the negative is outside the parentheses, such as -(3)^2, then it is -1/9.
2007-12-13 18:32:08 · answer #8 · answered by GuitarAikidoAlphaMale 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
(-3)^(-2)=1/(-3)^2=1/9
2007-12-10 21:06:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
(-3)^(-2) = (9)^(-1) = 1/9
2007-12-10 21:05:31 · answer #10 · answered by norman 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋