Exercise 3 Page 293

The expression -( 56)^2, or minus 56 to the second power, can be written as the product of two 56 terms multiplied by -1. Note that in this case, there are no parentheses surrounding the negative. - a^n ⇔ -1(a^n)This means that we should evaluate as though parentheses surround the exponent and multiply the result by -1.

-(5/6)^2

Rewrite

Rewrite (5/6)^2 as (5/6)* (5/6)

-5/6*5/6

MultFrac

Multiply fractions

-5*5/6*6

Multiply

Multiply

-25/36

Using a calculator, we can either enter -(5/6)^2 or -5/6*5/6. Both expressions give us the same answer.