Question

What is the difference in the results if you calculate

(−7)² versus −7² . Why does the parentheses give us a
different result?

Answer 1

Order of Operations.

Explanation:

If we include -7 in the parenthesis, the exponent acts the negative as well. Therefore:

(-7)²= 49.

However, when squaring without the parenthesis, it will give us a negative number because:

The order of operations, or PEMDAS, states that exponents come before multiplication. Therefore, when doing '-7²', you would first need to square the '7', giving us:

-7² = -49

However, within parenthesis, everything inside will be squared.