Final answer:
The base of the exponent 2 in the expression -9^(2) is -9. The term is being squared, meaning -9 is multiplied by itself, and the result is a positive 81 as squaring a negative number results in a positive product.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking about identifying the base of the exponent in the expression -9^(2). In this expression, the number being raised to the power of two is -9. Therefore, the base for the exponent 2 is -9. The process of raising a number to the power of 2 is known as squaring, and it means you multiply the base by itself, so in this case, you would calculate (-9) * (-9) which equals 81.
It's important to note that if the negative sign is not inside parentheses, it is not considered part of the base. However, in this case, the negative sign is within parentheses, indicating that the entire negative number is to be squared.
When squaring a negative number, the result is always positive, because a negative number multiplied by itself results in a positive product. Therefore, when we square -9, we get a positive 81.