Evaluate (-7)^-2

${(- 7)}^{- 2}$

Step 1

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

$\frac{1}{{(- 7)}^{2}}$

Step 2

Raise $- 7$ to the power of $2$ .

$\frac{1}{49}$

Step 3

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$\frac{1}{49}$

Decimal Form:

$0.02040816 \dots$