Chapter 11 - Additional Topics - 11.3 - Fractional Exponents - Problem Set 11.3 - Page 489: 24

-4

First of all, remember that raising a number to the ½ power is the same as taking the square root of that number. Also, recall, when a number is raised to the second power, the square root cancels out the exponent. Thus, we obtain: $-\sqrt{16}=-\sqrt{4^{2}}=-4$