Lesson 3
Negative Numbers
Real values of less than nothing
Page 120
You are correct. We defined
b − n = (1)/(bn).
So if we wish to write
(1)/(3) as a power of 3, all we need to do is write
(1)/(3) = 3 − 1
which is just what our definition said.
Now we had better check to see that we don’t get into any trouble with this definition. Suppose we want to multiply
16 × (1)/(8).
What number do we get by multiplying 16 × (1)/(8)?
Answer to Self-Test Question 10, Lesson 3 :
