It's -1 from the explanation I read which makes perfect sense to me, if
The problem I'm having a little trouble with is:
I say it's:
Substituting -1 for y
So negative one is not a solution.
y = 1
Um, I think....

You have the right conclusion, but for the wrong reason.The problem I'm having a little trouble with is:
with the question: Is -1 a solution?
I say it's:
Substituting -1 for y
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So negative one is not a solution.
Yes, that's one solution. Remember, though, there are two solutions when you're taking the square root of a positive number.
or
y ~ 1.22
Um, I think....
It's probably easiest to explain with an example:There are two solutions when taking the square root of a positive number? Really? What's the other solution?
This is true for pure mathematics. It's worth noting, however, that the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (and some computer languages) gives the unary minus sign precedence over the exponent, so -1^2 is actually interpreted as (-1)^2. There, explicit parentheses are needed to get the desired result, i.e. -(1^2). Just something to be aware of if anyone uses that product.For -1^2, the 2 is only on the 1, not the -. If you had (-1)^2, then the 2 would be on the -.
It does all the other operations in the correct order, but it swaps the order of the unary minus sign (i.e. the minus in '-5') and exponent (i.e. the 2 in x^2).So Excel and stuff doesn't do the order of operations? That's confusing!