<EDT>DSL was down from last night til a few mins ago (or so I thought). Wrote this on last night's posts. Sorry if I've repeated the mantra, but repeat it I did. My apologies. CBB
But -2^2 does equal -4
I thought you were working on -2^3 which does equal 8
Surely as follows:
-2^1=-2
-2^2=-4
-2^3=-8
-2^4=-16
Now your going to tell we've moved on & by adding - we get a different answer aren't you.lol
NO. NO. NO. Extremely fundamental misunderstanding here.
(
Read this first).
Confusing? Yes. The point is that
proving that a -1 time a -1 is a plus 1 isn't easy to do in a way that is utterly convincing.
So, I'll take the leap and just
state it: -1 time -1 (or -2 times -2 or ANY negative number times another negative number) is ALWAYS a
positive number. ALWAYS. Trust me.
Except, apparently, when a "Wolfram Alpha" math engine is used. I've got no idea what that's all about and I would suggest you pretend you never heard the name.
For our meager purposes, I state again:
One negative multiplier yields a negative answer
Two negatives multiplied together yield a positive answer.
Three negatives multiplied together yield a negative answer.
I.E., An Even number of negatives multiplied together yield positive answers.
An Odd number of negatives multiplied together yield negative answers.
Whether you believe it or not, any other usage will give you the WRONG answers.
Some things simply rely on derived results as proof. That or just plain blind faith...
Good mornin', by the way.