Evaluate -2(4)^-1

$- 2 {(4)}^{- 1}$

Step 1

Rewrite the expression using the negative exponent rule $b^{- n} = \frac{1}{b^{n}}$ .

$- 2 (\frac{1}{4})$

Step 2

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

Factor $2$ out of $- 2$ .

$2 (- 1) \frac{1}{4}$

Factor $2$ out of $4$ .

$2 \cdot - 1 \frac{1}{2 \cdot 2}$

Cancel the common factor.

$2 \cdot - 1 \frac{1}{2 \cdot 2}$

Rewrite the expression.

$- 1 (\frac{1}{2})$

Step 3

Rewrite $- 1 (\frac{1}{2})$ as $- (\frac{1}{2})$ .

$- \frac{1}{2}$

Step 4

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$- \frac{1}{2}$

Decimal Form:

$- 0.5$