Exercise 14 Page 321

The expression (- 0.3)^4, or - 0.3 to the fourth power, can be written as the product of four - 0.3 terms. Note that when multiplying two negative numbers, we obtain a positive number. (- a)(- a) = a* aThis means that any real negative number raised to an even power will result in a positive result.

(- 0.3)^4

Rewrite

Rewrite (- 0.3)^4 as (- 0.3)*(- 0.3)*(- 0.3)*(- 0.3)

(- 0.3)*(- 0.3)*(- 0.3)*(- 0.3)

MultNegNegTwoPar

(- a)(- b)=a* b

(0.3)* (0.3)* (0.3)* (0.3)

Multiply

Multiply

0.0081

Using a calculator, we can either enter (- 0.3)^4, or 0.3* 0.3* 0.3* 0.3. All of the expressions give us the same answer.