Question

What is 2 to the negative 4th power without an exponent?

Answer 1

We have to find:

`2^(-4)=?`

By the inverse law of exponents,we have:

`a^(-b)=(1)/(a^b)`

where a,b are any numbers.

According to our question,we have a=2 and b=4 here

Putting the values,we get:

`2^(-4)=(1)/(2^4)`

Now, we know that

`a^b=a* a* a* a\ldots\ldots..* a\text{ b times}`

That is,in our question,

`2^4=2*2*2*2=16`

Hence,