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Without evaluating explain why (-8.4)^5 is less than 2^2

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Answer:

When you have a negative base and an odd exponent, you always get a negative answer. For example, (-9)^3 written out is -9 * -9 *-9. Although the answer becomes positive for the first two 9s (81) it becomes negative again for the third 9 (-729). A base with a positive exponent will always yield a positive number. Positive numbers are greater than 0 and are always greater than negative numbers.

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