Question

What is, a^-2 if; a = -5? It would be 1/25 I think but would it be negative or positive?

Answer 1

I assume you're recognizing that it's equivalent to 1/a². Then you've either:

Missed that (-5)² is still positive (like all square numbers): -5 x -5 = 25!

Tripped yourself up by thinking the - sign needs to "go somewhere"; the - merely denotes that the a² is on the bottom, so there's no need to use it anywhere else.