Question

Find -16 squared

Answer 1

-256

Answer 2

^ It would depend if you were to put the -16 in brackets or not - because if you square the whole thing, including the negative
(-16)^2
-16 x -16 = 256

But if you type it into the calculator plainly as -16^2 without brackets it gives an answer of -256, because the - was not taken into account during squaring, and so was treated separately:

-16^2:
(-1)(16)^2
Where it only squares the 16 and multiplies it by -1 at the end