a number raised to a negative exponent is a negative
Report Abuse. Raising a number to a negative power does not necessarily mean it is negative. The negative means that you are raising the reciprocal to that power. In other words 2 raised to the negative 2 power is the same as 1/2 raised to the positive 2 power. So the answer is 1/4. Likewise, 2 raised to the -3 power is 1/2 raised to the +3 power which is equal to 1/8. Note that a positive number raised to any power (whether positive or negative) will always be positive. Hope that helps.