Also known as -2, minus two, negative two
In mathematics, negative two or minus two is an integer two units from the origin, denoted as −2 or −2. It is the additive inverse of 2, following −3 and preceding −1, and is the largest negative even integer. Except in rare cases exploring integral ring prime elements, negative two is generally not considered a prime number.
Key facts
- Number.lang2
- Chinese numeral
- Number.lang1
- Arabic
- Number.lang1 symbol
- −
- Number.number
- −2
- Number.divisor
- 1, 2
- Number.cardinal
- −2, minus two,
- Number.ordinal
- −2nd (negative second)
- Number.lang2 symbol
- 负二，负弍，负貳
- Number.lang3
- Bengali
- Number.lang3 symbol
- −
- Number.lang4
- Binary (byte)
- Number.lang5
- Hex (byte)
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Article
10 sectionsContents
- Properties
- Divisors of negative two
- Powers of negative two
- Negative second power
- Square root of negative two
- Representation
- Plus or minus two
- See also
- Notes
- References
In mathematics, negative two or minus two is an integer two units from the origin, denoted as −2 or −2. It is the additive inverse of 2, following −3 and preceding −1, and is the largest negative even integer. Except in rare cases exploring integral ring prime elements, negative two is generally not considered a prime number.
Negative two is sometimes used to denote the square reciprocal in the notation of SI base units, such as m·s−2. Additionally, in fields like software design, −1 is often used as an invalid return value for functions, and similarly, negative two may indicate other invalid conditions beyond negative one. For example, in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, negative one denotes non-existence, while negative two indicates an infinite solution.
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