negative number raised to even power

[Wes Loewer]

I'm really baffled by all the discussion on this issue. Everyone agrees with the following two statements:

1) The square of negative two is four: (-2)^2 = 4 (In 41C rpn: 2 CHS ENTER 2 y^x)
2) The negative of the square of two is negative four: -(2^2) = -4 (In 41C rpn: 2 ENTER 2 y^x CHS)

What people are disagreeing about is the meaning of -2^2. Even though some calculators and computer programs may not follow it, the standard algebra order of operations indicates that exponentiation proceeds negation, so -2^2 means -(2^2) = -4.