What do I do in an equation if there is a number without an exponent within the parenthesis? One example being...

Question

(-2)^2

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

That's just negative 2 squared. -2 * -2 = 4.

Not sure what you mean 'without an exponent'. (-2)^2 is usually written that way to indicate that it's -2 that's being squared, not -(2)^2, which would be -4.