Negative Exponents in Calculators and Computers

How to enter negative exponents on a calculator or a computer. If you're using a calculator, here's so you can enter a negative exponent. The first step is to enter the base number. In this case, we will enter two. Next, press the key that is used for indicating an exponent. This is usually called the arc key. So far pretty simple, right? You might just start entering a negative number. But hold on. Sometimes that will work, but let's do it this way. Safer way to do it is to press the open parentheses key. Yes, we're going to put the negative exponent inside a set of parentheses. The reasons for this are complicated. And we won't get into that in this video. Just trust me on this one. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by putting the negative exponent inside a set of parentheses. Later on, if you become a math whiz, you can enter stuff Willy Nilly and take the responsibility for the consequences. But for now, just press the open parentheses key. Then enter your negative exponent. In this case, we will enter negative three. Wait. We're going to use the negative sine key, not the minus sin key. The negative sine key is often located near the bottom of the calculator, and it's often labeled with a minus sign in parentheses. Don't use the minus sine key. As using this will cause most calculators to give you an error message. Go ahead and press the negative sine key. Once that negative exponent is entered, then press the closed parentheses key. And there you go. You've entered a negative exponent on a calculator. Now hit enter boom. You've got your answer, 0.125. And now, let's talk about how to enter negative exponents on a computer. The process is similar to entering negative exponents on a calculator. Here we are in a spreadsheet program, and we want to enter two to the power of negative three in a cell. We'll start by entering the equal sign. Then the base number, in this case, it's two, then the art symbol, then the exponent. In this case, it's minus three. We'll just use the minus k here. And there's the evaluated value in the spreadsheet cell.