How do you simplify $-(3)^-2$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2018-05-10T21:09:24

$-1/9$

Recall that $x^-a=1/x^a,$ so

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

Note that we don't include the negative when squaring as it's not within any parentheses, indicating that it is independent.

Answer 2 · 2018-05-10T21:13:09

I thinking the best thing to do is: $-(3)^-2 = -1/3^2 = -1/9$

Using the fact with a number in form $x^-1 = 1/x$

How do you simplify -(3)^-2-(3)^-2?