A negative exponent is the same as the reciprocal of the number with a positive exponent.Thus 2^(-4) is the reciprocal of 2^4.
Now 2^4 = 16 and the reciprocal of 16 is 1/16 so 2^-4 = 1/(2^4) = 1/16 = 0.0625
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When you have a negative exponent on, say, 4, it will be written 4^-2 You basically take the reciprocal of it and change the exponent to a positive one. 4^-2 would be 1/4^2
negative 4 with negative 3 as an exponent
Not always. (-4)-2 = 1/(-4)2 = 1/16 which is positive. (-4)-3 = 1/(-4)3 = 1/(-64) which is negative.
A number with a negative exponent should be treated as the reciprocal of that same number with the analogous positive exponent. For example, 42 = 16, but 4-2 = 1/42 = 1/16.
The result is a negative number which may or may not have an exponent. For example, -2*102 times 4 = -8*102 -2*102 times 0.04 = -8