Question

Describe the difference between −3^4 and (−3)^4.

Answer 1

-3^4=-81 and (-3)^4=81

Explanation:

Following the rules of PEMDAS you will do exponents before multiplcation.

A negative sign means that you are multiplying by -1.

-3^4 means you will raise 3 to the 4th power and then multiply by -1. So you will do 3^4 first which is 81 and then multiply by -1. Making the answer -81.

When you put parentheses around the -3 it means you are raising the entire -3 to the power of 4 instead of only the 3. So it will be -3*-3*-3*-3 which is 81.

Answer 2

for (-3)^4, if there were more numbers in the parentheses, the exponent would apply to all numbers in the parentheses

for -3^4, the exponent would only apply the -3.

hope this helps!