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Effect of Parentheses on Negative Bases

When evaluating exponential expressions with negative signs, parentheses determine whether the negative sign is included in the base. If the negative sign is enclosed in parentheses with the number (e.g., (n)2(-n)^2), the entire negative number is the base. If there are no parentheses (e.g., n2-n^2), the base is only the positive number nn, and the exponent is applied before the negative sign according to the standard order of operations.

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Updated 2026-07-06

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