8.A number raised to a negative exponent is negative. Is it always , never, or sometimes

In your earlier post of this question, I had given you an example of two different cases, one resulting in a negative, the other in a positive answer.

I assumed you could deduce which choice what that.

Oh I see it i the answe (sometimes) thank you . I'm sometimes in the the box . Thank you

sometimes

Thank you

1. B. 1/45

2. A. mq^2/n^4
3. C. 4.2 x 10^-3
4. A. 6,120
5. D. 4 x 10^5
6. A. 8.1 x 10^-5
7. B. 1/2
8. C. Sometimes
9. A. 64x^8y^11
10. C. 1.28r^2/t^9

To determine whether a number raised to a negative exponent is negative, we need to understand the properties of exponentiation.

When a number is raised to a positive exponent, such as 2² (2 raised to the power of 2), it means multiplying the base (2) by itself the number of times indicated by the exponent (2² = 2 * 2 = 4).

Now, let's explore what happens when a number is raised to a negative exponent. For example, let's consider 2⁻² (2 raised to the power of -2).

To calculate this, we need to remember an important property of exponents: any non-zero number raised to the power of 0 is 1. So, we can rewrite 2⁻² as 1/2² (reciprocal).

Now let's calculate 1/2²:

1/2² = 1/(2 * 2) = 1/4

From this calculation, we can see that 2⁻² is equal to 1/4, which is a positive number. Therefore, a number raised to a negative exponent is not always negative; instead, it can be positive or negative, depending on the base.