Question

A negative exponent in power for any non-integer is basically a _____________ of the power.

Answer 1

Answer: If the exponent is a rational number with an odd denominator, there is a real number result that can be obtained by simply taking the minus sign outside. The reason why it works is because a negative number raised to an odd integer power will be a negative number; conversely, it makes sense to talk about the odd number-th root (reciprocal power, i.e., x−−√n=x1/n) of a negative number within the context of real numbers.