Expanding (3x)^2
The expression (3x)^2 represents the square of the term 3x. To expand this, we need to understand the concept of exponents and how they apply to multiplication.
Understanding Exponents
An exponent indicates how many times a base is multiplied by itself. In our case, the base is 3x and the exponent is 2.
Expanding the Expression
To expand (3x)^2, we simply multiply 3x by itself two times:
(3x)^2 = (3x) * (3x)
Now, we can apply the distributive property of multiplication:
(3x) * (3x) = 3 * x * 3 * x
Finally, we can rearrange and simplify:
3 * 3 * x * x = 9 * x^2
Result
Therefore, the expanded form of (3x)^2 is 9x^2.