Reason:
Replace p with 2 and evaluate.
Think of a cube that is 2 units along each side. It's volume is 2*2*2 = 8 cubic units. Repeated multiplication can be shortened to using exponents.
Another example:
Our equation looks like:
This means that we will need to distribute. This means that we need to multiply everything inside the parenthesis by the number outside of the parenthesis. (<em>Note: you only distribute when variables are involved.)</em>
Simplify:
We cannot simplify any further, so we know that our equation, until we know what x equals, is .