Editing Exponentiation (section)

====Powers of negative one====
Since a negative number times another negative is positive, we have:<blockquote><math>(-1)^n = \left\{\begin{array}{rl} 
1 & \text{for even } n, \\
-1 & \text{for odd } n. \\
\end{array}\right.</math></blockquote>Because of this, powers of {{math|−1}} are useful for expressing alternating [[sequence]]s. For a similar discussion of powers of the complex number {{math|''i''}}, see ''{{slink||nth roots of a complex number}}''.