a + b whole square is what

Answer: (a+b)2=a2+2ab+b2(a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2

Step-by-step solution

Step 1: Understand the notation

The notation (a+b)2(a+b)^2 means that the expression (a+b)(a+b) is multiplied by itself. The exponent 22 indicates that the base, which is (a+b)(a+b), should be multiplied by itself 22 times.

Step 2: Rewrite the expression as repeated multiplication

Based on the definition of squaring, we can rewrite (a+b)2(a+b)^2 as the product of 22 identical binomials: (a+b)(a+b) multiplied by (a+b)(a+b).

Step 3: Apply the distributive property

To expand the product of 22 binomials, we apply the distributive property. Each term in the first parenthesis multiplies every term in the second parenthesis, giving 44 individual products.

Step 4: Simplify each individual term

Now we simplify each term. a⋅aa \cdot a equals a2a^2, a⋅ba \cdot b equals abab, and by the commutative property of multiplication, b⋅a=abb \cdot a = ab. Finally, b⋅bb \cdot b equals b2b^2.

Step 5: Combine like terms

Finally, we combine the like terms abab and abab. Adding 1ab1ab to 1ab1ab yields 2ab2ab, giving the fundamental algebraic identity (a+b)2=a2+2ab+b2(a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2.

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