aâsimplifiedâanswerwillhaveasfewtermsaspossibleandeachtermshouldhavenomorethanasingleexponentonit.Therearemanydifferentpathsthatwecantaketogettothefinalanswerforeachofthese.Intheendtheanswerwillbethesameregardlessofthepaththatyouusedtogettheanswer.Allthatthismeansforyouisthataslongasyouusedthepropertiesyoucantakethepaththatyoufindtheeasiest.Thepaththatothersfindtobetheeasiestmaynotbethepaththatyoufindtobetheeasiest.Thatisokay.©PaulDawkinsAlgebraâ5â