Question

What can be said of the result if a negative is raised to an odd power?

Answer 1

Let's say we have the base -2 and we raise it to the third power, what will happen?

Well, $-2^3 = -2 * -2 * -2$.

$-2 * -2 * -2 = (-2 * -2) * -2 = (4) * -2 = -8$

Any negative base with an odd exponent will result in a negative answer, because, unlike even exponents and negative bases, the negatives will not cancel out.