Question

How do you simplify `(3bc)^4`?

Answer 1

`81 b^4 c^4`

Explanation:

What does `(3bc)^4` mean?

Basically, `x^4 = x * x * x * x`, so in your case, it's

`(3bc) ^4 = (3bc) * (3bc) * (3bc) * (3bc)`

As you can multiply in any order your wish, you can drop the parenthesis and "group" the `3`, the `b` and the `c` like follows:

`(3bc) ^4 = (3bc) * (3bc) * (3bc) * (3bc)`
`= 3 * 3 * 3 * 3 * b * b * b * b * c * c * c * c = 3^4 * b^4 * c^4`

Now, the only thing left to do is computing `3^4`:

`3^4 = 9^2 = 81`

So, your solution is `81 b^4 c^4`.