What is a positive number to the power of negative 1?

We will be looking at the concept of exponents in this section. Exponents are very important concepts in mathematics that are used to make calculations convenient.

Answer: A positive number to the power negative 1 is a number that is always less than one.

Let's understand the solution.

Explanation:

We know that, a^-m = 1/a^m

When we calculate the result when a positive number is raised to the power of -1, we always get a number that is less than one; for example, 2^-1 = 1/2 < 1

Instead, if the number is 0, then the result will be undefined, i.e, 0^-1 = 1/0 which is undefined.

Or, if the number is negative, then the result will be negative but still less than one; for example, (-1)^-1 = -1/1 = -1, or (-2)^-1 = -1/2.

Hence, a positive number to the power negative 1 is a number that is always less than one.