negative numbers with negative exponents

Question

When I enter -5^-3 into my calculator, I get -.008.  can you explain why it's not -125?

Answer 1

A negative exponent means 1 over the base to the positive exponent. In a simple expression, this means x^-1 = 1/(x^1) = 1/x. 

 

So when you enter -5^-3, your calculator sees:

-(5^-3) = -(1/5^3) = -(1/125) = -.008