negative number raised to even power

[Wes Loewer]

(05-06-2015 07:03 AM)Thomas Radtke Wrote:  

(05-05-2015 07:32 PM)Wes Loewer Wrote:  What people are disagreeing about is the meaning of -2^2.

But then 0-2^2 is clear again. It's the missing zero that confuses some people.

I agree that -2^2 = 0-2^2, but someone could argue that these are different as the left side involves negation while the right side involves subtraction, two operators that use similar looking symbols.

I think I've got something that will convince any doubters...
Consider the function f(x)=exp(-x^2)
   
I think everyone will agree that the graph of this function is a bell curve, which means that the function is interpreted as exp(-(x^2)) and not exp((-x)^2).