Simplify -5^-2

$- 5^{- 2}$

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

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

Raise $5$ to the power of $2$ .

$- \frac{1}{25}$

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$- \frac{1}{25}$

Decimal Form:

$- 0.04$