Evaluate the following expression (-3)^-2

Question

asked Nov 20, 2021 235k views

2 Answers

Swato · Answer 1 · 2021-11-22T11:23:26+0000

Answer:

1/9

Explanation:

(-3)^-2 would be better written as (-3)^(-2).

1

(-3)^(-2) would be easier to evaluate if written as -------------

(-3)^2

The final answer is 1/9.

JesseTG · Answer 2 · 2021-11-25T05:56:07+0000

It is approximately equal to 0.1111

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To get this answer, we use the rule

x^(-k) = (1)/(x^k)

The negative exponent tells us to apply the reciprocal to get the exponent to be positive.

So,

$(-3)^(-2) = (1)/((-3)^2)\\\\(-3)^(-2) = (1)/(9)$

Squaring -3 means you square the negative as well

(-3)^2 = (-3)*(-3) = 9