Negative Numbers to the power of 0

8 views (last 30 days)
Simon Hunter
Simon Hunter on 18 Nov 2020
Commented: TADA on 19 Nov 2020
Hi All,
New-again matlab user after a decade away; having trouble with raising a negative number to the power 0.
I recognise that:
  • (-2)^0 = 1 and
  • -2^0 = -1.
In my code, I am trying to populate a 5x5, row by row filling the columns with elements of one 1x5 row vector to the power of another 1x5 vector.
I have written a very basic, and probably inefficient way of doing this with two for loops, but when it comes to raising a negative number to the power 0 and storing it, I get 1 as opposed to what I think is correct; -1.
I presume Im missing something very basic but would really appreciate any help; Thank you!
k = [0:4]
x = [-2.0 3.0 9.0 2.0 25.0]
A = ones(5,5);
for row = 1:length(k)
for col = 1:length(k)
A(row,col) = x(col)^k(row);
end
end
This is what I get: But I think the top left should be -1 since -2^0 = -1
1 1 1 1 1
-2 3 9 2 25
4 9 81 4 625
-8 27 729 8 15625
16 81 6561 16 390625
  15 Comments
James Tursa
James Tursa on 18 Nov 2020
This is essentially the same example that Bruno gave. So the doc phrase "second from the right to left" means that you recursively do the operator that is second from the right as you process the operations. The rightmost operator is done last. E.g.,
>> 1.2^+1.3^+1.4^+1.5^+1.6^+1.7
ans =
1.6665
>> (1.2^+(1.3^+(1.4^+(1.5^+1.6))))^+1.7
ans =
1.6665
Good luck trying to remember that ... and better luck trying to get things straight if you mix in the regular ^ operator anywhere.

Sign in to comment.

Accepted Answer

Ameer Hamza
Ameer Hamza on 18 Nov 2020
Edited: Ameer Hamza on 18 Nov 2020
You can do it without for-loop
k = 0:4;
x = [-2.0 3.0 9.0 2.0 25.0];
A = x.^(k.')
Also, x(col)^k(row) is equivalent to (-2)^0, not -2^0.
For example, what you you expect the output of following code to be
x = -2;
y = x^2
should y be 4 or -4?

More Answers (1)

TADA
TADA on 18 Nov 2020
Edited: TADA on 18 Nov 2020
Any arithmetic operation performed on variables will treat the variables as if it was wrapped with parentheses.
Try this simple example:
x = -2;
y = x^0
y = 1
In my opinion, this is the correct result, which takes into account the proper order of operations, but if you really want that to keep the original sign, you can multiply your result by the sign of the original number:
y = sign(x) * x^0
y = -1
  3 Comments
Les Beckham
Les Beckham on 19 Nov 2020
One caveat:
If x = 0, then the sign(x) * x^0 trick won't work to 'keep the original sign' while also returning the correct result.
Note that 0^1 = 1 but sign(0)*0^0 = 0, since sign(0) = 0 in Matlab.

Sign in to comment.

Categories

Find more on Data Type Identification in Help Center and File Exchange

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!