Exponents

The next problem is shown below:

(-3)⁶

This time the -3 is inside parentheses. Instead of carrying down the negative sign, each 3 is made negative.

1 * -3 * -3 * -3 * -3 * -3 * -3
729

As you can see, the multiplication simplifies to 729. Note that aside from the result of the previous example being negative, the result here is the same. Pay careful attention to finding exponents when negative signs are involved, as this is a common source of error.

The next pages explain the zero exponent in addition to some tips and tricks.