Question

Is it possible to raise a negative number to a fractional power .

If it is possible ,how can I find it because I am not able to do it on the calculator of my tab

Answer 1

The problem is with negative numbers being raised to a fractional exponent. Apparently this is an invalid operation: (-2)^1.999 = invalid|error (-2)^2.001 = invalid|error However a negative number raised to an integer is perfectly fine. (-2)^2 = 4 What is the reason behind this? The most confusing part about it is that I would expect the former two equations to simply give results close to 4, as the later equation does. This in tandem with : 2^1.999 ~= 3.99723 2^2 = 4 2^2.001 ~= 4.00278