What is negative 2 to the 4th power?

Negative 2 to the 4th power, or (-2)⁴, is calculated by multiplying -2 by itself four times. So, let’s break it down:

First, we perform the multiplication:

(-2) * (-2) = 4

Then we take that result and multiply it by -2 again:

4 * (-2) = -8

Finally, we multiply that result by -2 one last time:

(-8) * (-2) = 16

So, (-2)⁴ = 16. Note that when you raise a negative number to an even power, the result is positive. Therefore, the answer is:

16