This activity is about simplifying algebraic powers by multiplication.
Example
Simplify:
(a3b2)4
Answer
Remember what to the power of 4 means and multiply the terms 4 times.
We get:
a3b2 × a3b2 × a3b2 × a3b2
Add the indices of matching identical letters
(for the letter a: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12 and for the letter b: 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8).
Answer is a12b8.
Now that you can see what is actually happening, we can use a quicker method to work these out.
All we do is to multiply the powers inside the bracket with the power outside the bracket.
a has the power of 3, so we multiply 3 by 4: 3 x 4 = 12
b has the power of 2, so we multiply 2 by 4: 2 x 4 = 8
a12b8.
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Question
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Teacher explanation