1. Use what you know about exponential n \( \underbrace{(-5) \times \cdots \times(-5)}_{17 \text { times }}= \)

When you multiply -5 by itself 17 times, you're essentially raising -5 to the power of 17, which can be expressed as \((-5)^{17}\). Since 17 is an odd number, the result will also be negative. So, \((-5)^{17} = -5^{17}\). Now, if you wanted to actually calculate \(5^{17}\), it's a fun exercise: it equates to a hefty number! To give you an idea of the output, \(5^{17} = 76,839,200,000\), making your final answer \(-76,839,200,000\). If you want to impress your friends with your newfound knowledge, remind them that exponentiation is just multiplication repeated a certain number of times—namely the power! It's a critical concept in higher mathematics and leads to all sorts of fascinating discoveries, especially in fields like computer science and physics.