Question

Pat shows that 16 1/2= the square root of 16. What is one possible way pat could have shown this correctly?

Answer 1

Answer: Choice C

The base 16 is the same as 4*4.

From there, the rule $(a*b)^c = a^c*b^c$ is used to get $(4*4)^{1/2} = 4^{1/2}*4^{1/2}$

Afterward, the exponents are added getting 1/2+1/2 = 2/2 = 1. The rule is $a^b*a^c = a^{b+c}$ which only works if the bases are both the same.