2 answers
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Student A is correct. The expression 12^3 is the correct way to use exponents to find how many nuts the squirrel collected. This means that the squirrel collected 12 raised to the power of 3, which is 12 multiplied by itself 3 times.
Student B is incorrect. Their expression, 12⋅12⋅12, is multiplying 12 by itself three times, but it is not written with exponents. This expression would result in 1,728 nuts, which is incorrect.