Answer: -3/16
Explanation:
When there is a negative exponent like x^-2 it equals 1/(x^2) the negative puts the number as a fraction so continuing...
-12(x^-2) (y^-2) can be rewritten as
-12 (1/x^2) (1/y^2) now we plug in x = -2 and y = 4
-12 (1/(-2^2) (1/(4^2)); -2^2 = 4 , 4^2 = 16
-12 (1/4) (1/16)
-3 (1/16)
= -3/16