This is a trick question. 7 families had a parakeet.
Answer:
We use the power rule of exponents to find out that both sides of the equation equal 3^20 (or 3486784401).
Step-by-step explanation:
For this example, we can just use a calculator and find out that both (3^5)^4 and (3^4)^5 are the same value. But how do we know this algebraically?
When dealing with exponents, we must have a good understanding of the properties of exponents before doing any calculations.
For this example, I recognize that the power rule of exponents is being used:

So let's apply this rule to the given equation.
(3^5)^4 = (3^4)^5
3^(5*4) = 3^(4*5)
3^20 = 3^20
Now we know both sides of the equation equal 3^20 (or 3486784401).
Since its telling you that x is the number of years and the question is "How much does the cost of milk increase EVERY YEAR" then you can conclude that the cost is increasing by 0.25 each year