NCERT Example - Negative exponents - Power Play
Question: Extend the pattern of powers of 10 to negative exponents. What is 10^(-3)? What is a^(-n) in general?
Answer: 10^(-3) = 1/1000 = 0.001. In general, a^(-n) = 1/a^n when a is not zero.
Full step-by-step NCERT solution with diagrams on Something by Zero.