Student B is correct.
Student A's answer is incorrect because they only multiplied 12 and 3 together, but did not account for the fact that the squirrel collected 12 nuts per hour for 12 hours for 12 days. They did not use exponents to correctly represent the repeated multiplication.
Student B's answer is correct because they correctly used exponents to represent the repeated multiplication. They multiplied 12 by itself three times to account for the fact that the squirrel collected 12 nuts per hour for 12 hours for 12 days.
A class is given this question on a test about exponents: A squirrel collects 12 nuts an hour for 12 hours on 12 days. Write an expression with and without exponents to find how many nuts the squirrel collected.
Two students provided these answers.
Student A Student B
123 123
12⋅3 12⋅12⋅12
36 nuts 1,728 nuts
Which student is correct? Explain what the incorrect student did incorrectly.
1 answer