Evaluate -25^(1/2)

$- 25^{\frac{1}{2}}$

Step 1

Simplify the expression.

Rewrite $25$ as $5^{2}$ .

$- {(5^{2})}^{\frac{1}{2}}$

Apply the power rule and multiply exponents, ${(a^{m})}^{n} = a^{m n}$ .

$- 5^{2 (\frac{1}{2})}$

Step 2

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

Cancel the common factor.

$- 5^{2 (\frac{1}{2})}$

Rewrite the expression.

$- 5^{1}$

Step 3

Evaluate the exponent.

$- 1 \cdot 5$

Step 4

Multiply $- 1$ by $5$ .

$- 5$