s the following statement always, never, or sometimes true? A number raised to a negative exponent is negative.
The statement is sometimes false.
A number raised to a negative exponent is not necessarily negative.
In fact, any non-zero number raised to a negative exponent will always result in a positive value. This is because a negative exponent signifies taking the reciprocal of the number. For example, 2^(-3) is equal to 1/(2^3) which is 1/8, a positive value.
However, a negative number raised to a negative exponent may result in a negative value. For example, (-2)^(-3) is equal to 1/((-2)^3) which is -1/8, a negative value.