Question
During math class, Alex and Jordan were working on a homework problem together. Their teacher asked them to simplify (23)4
.
Alex says: (23)4=212
Jordan says: (23)4=8×4=32
Explain which student is correct.
Show how you know using both exponent rules and repeated multiplication.
Why might Jordan’s answer seem reasonable at first?
Be sure to write your explanation using complete sentences.
Make sure it looks like a 8th grader wrote it. Also make it short sentcens and only 3-5 of them
.
Alex says: (23)4=212
Jordan says: (23)4=8×4=32
Explain which student is correct.
Show how you know using both exponent rules and repeated multiplication.
Why might Jordan’s answer seem reasonable at first?
Be sure to write your explanation using complete sentences.
Make sure it looks like a 8th grader wrote it. Also make it short sentcens and only 3-5 of them
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Alex is correct: \( (23)^4 = 23 \times 23 \times 23 \times 23 \). This means we multiply 23 by itself four times.
Jordan's answer of \( 32 \) seems reasonable at first because he broke down the expression incorrectly, thinking \( 23^4 = 8 \times 4 \). However, that simplification isn't valid.
Using exponent rules, \( (23)^4 \) means raising 23 to the fourth power, not multiplying two smaller numbers. So, the correct answer is much larger than what Jordan proposed.
Jordan's answer of \( 32 \) seems reasonable at first because he broke down the expression incorrectly, thinking \( 23^4 = 8 \times 4 \). However, that simplification isn't valid.
Using exponent rules, \( (23)^4 \) means raising 23 to the fourth power, not multiplying two smaller numbers. So, the correct answer is much larger than what Jordan proposed.