What is 5 to the power of negative 2?

5 to the power of negative 2 can be written as 5^-2. When you have a negative exponent, it means you take the reciprocal of the base raised to the opposite positive exponent. So, 5^-2 is the same as 1 divided by 5².

Calculating 5² gives us 25. Therefore:

5^-2 = 1 / 5² = 1 / 25

The final result is:

5^-2 = 0.04