How do you simplify 15^12-15^11?

1 Answer
May 7, 2016

15^12-15^11=14*15^11
or 1.2109658 \times 10^14 if you evaluate that number on a calculator/computer.

Explanation:

Exponential's are repeated multiplications of one number as in
2^4=2*2*2*2=16 ,
because of this it's simple to break 15^12 into 15^11*15.
We replace the 15^12 with this term producing,
15^12-15^11=15*15^11-15^11 .
Since there is a 15^11 in both terms we can collect like terms to get
=15^11(15-1) .
Finishing it off we have
=14*15^11
or 1.2109658 \times 10^14 if you evaluate that number on a calculator/computer.