Simplify (4^-2)(-2^2)

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

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

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

Evaluate the exponents.

Raise $4$ to the power of $2$ .

$\frac{1}{16} (- 2^{2})$

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

$\frac{1}{16} (- 1 \cdot 4)$

Cancel the common factor of $4$ .

Factor $4$ out of $16$ .

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

Factor $4$ out of $- 1 \cdot 4$ .

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

Cancel the common factor.

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

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1}{4} \cdot - 1$

Combine $\frac{1}{4}$ and $- 1$ .

$\frac{- 1}{4}$

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$- \frac{1}{4}$

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$- \frac{1}{4}$

Decimal Form:

$- 0.25$