ShmoopTube

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Here's an unshmoopy question you'll find on an exam somewhere in life...

00:08

What does the expression (16a2)(9ab2) simplify to?

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And here are the potential answers...

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OK, this problem is testing whether we remember that, when we multiply

00:24

variables with exponents, we ADD the exponents.

00:31

But the first thing we do is multiply the 16 and the 9 to get 144.

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Awesome. We can just cross out A and B as potential answers.

00:40

25... pshaw. Who do they think they're dealing with?

00:44

Now we have a 50/50 shot of being right.

00:46

Sort of like Blake Griffin from the free throw line.

00:50

One other math trivia thing we have to know is that "a" is the same as "a" to the first power.

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So when we multiply "a" squared and "a" to the first, we get "a" to the third.

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And well, we're pretty much done because D is the only possible answer here.

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There's no "b" in the first term to multiply. So boom. Done.

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