need help with this problem

[moons93]

Hi. I have tried this problem several ways, but cannot get the correct answer.
100(1.08)^20
I have multiplied 100x1.08, then taken it to the 20th power
I have used 10^2 for the 100, but it still comes out wrong
Any explanation would be helpful.

 

[royhaas]

Raise 1.08 to the 20th power first.

 

[JeffM]

Look for order of operations under the general topic of algebra on the home page of free math help.

Order of operations is a set of conventions on the sequence in which certain operations are to be performed.

According to that convention, you do exponentiation before multiplication UNLESS parentheses specify otherwise.