Question

write (2b)^4 without exponents

Answer 1

would it be 2b 2b 2b 2b?

Answer 2

Your expression is A way to write it without exponents, certainly (as long as you make it clear that those are products), but I would rearrange it, and nothing says that you can't combine the numerical product (the 2's).

So you have:
\((2a)(2a)(2a)(2a) = 2\cdot 2\cdot 2\cdot 2\cdot a\cdot a\cdot a\cdot a\)

But you can take the product of those 2's....
\(= 16\cdot a\cdot a\cdot a\cdot a\)