Multiply 3.6666 by 3.25 to get 11.9167 cups.
The term (2 + 8) is described as the total amount of pieces of fabric. It makes it easier to put this term this way so you wouldn't have to do (8 x 5) + (2 x 5) and do the distributive property.
Factors are the numbers another number can be divided from. example-
8÷4=2, 4 is a factor of 8.
so the factors of 4 are 1,2and 4itself. like this-
4×1=4
1×4=4
2×2=4
answer- 1,2 and 4.
The practical rule would be, times that number, by the result of the first time you multiplied the first number. But, it would all depend by how much your're raising the number by.
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But, once again, this was an example. This would show and illustrate the rule of "raising a power".<span />