'simplify 3(a^2)(b^2) x 4(a^3)b.' is my answer correct?

i got 3ab^6 x 4ab^4, which was then 12ab^10.

i'm confused about multiplying a and b when both have different powers.

So multiply with powers is actually adding powers with same base
So answer is 12a^(2+3)b^(2+1) = 12a^5b^3

Best answer that i found on yahoo ok   set :   x= length of 2nd piece in cm  x- 3= length of 1st piece in cm  x-4= length of 3rd piece in cm  then since you know they all came from the 20 cm ribbon you add them together and set them equal to 20x+ x-3 +x-4 = 20  3x - 7= 20  3x= 27  x= 9  the shortest piece is the third piece which is x- 4  x-4  9-4 = 5  the length of the smallest piece is 5 cm.  the other lengths are  9 cm  6 cm

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