Question

What is the value of the expression when a = 2?
how would i be able to answer this confused
5a^4
4 a exponent

Answer 1

oh god! @tom982

Answer 2

2*2*2*2=16*5=80

Answer 3

5a^4 is really 5*(a^4)

You don't need that parenthesis, but it helps separate what is really being raised to the power of 4.

Answer 4

since a = 2, you replace all of 'a' with 2 to get 5*(a^4) = 5*(2^4)

Answer 5

from there, you would use the order of operations (PEMDAS) to evaluate 5*(2^4)

the E for exponent comes before M for multiplication in PEMDAS. So you do exponentiation first and then you multiply. The parenthesis helps reinforce what comes first.

Answer 6

so you could easily have 5*2^4 and mean the same thing as 5*(2^4)

Answer 7

oooh okay

Answer 8

wow i actually got it this time lol