A number with an exponent (b^e) consists of a base (b) raised to a power (e). The exponent indicates the number of times that the base is multiplied by itself. A base with an exponent of 1 equals the base (b¹ = b) and a base with an exponent of 0 equals 1 ( (b⁰ = 1).

The distributive property for multiplication helps in solving expressions like a(b + c). It specifies that the result of multiplying one number by the sum or difference of two numbers can be obtained by multiplying each number individually and then totaling the results: a(b + c) = ab + ac. For example, 4(10-5) = (4 x 10) - (4 x 5) = 40 - 20 = 20.

The equation for this sequence is:

a_n = a_n-1 + 5

where n is the term's order in the sequence, a_n is the value of the term, and a_n-1 is the value of the term before a_n. This makes the next number:

a₆ = a₅ + 5
a₆ = 21 + 5
a₆ = 26

A ratio of 2:1 means that there are 2 home fans for every one visiting fan. So, of every 3 fans, 2 are home fans and \( \frac{2}{3} \) of every fan in the stadium is a home fan:

44,000 fans x \( \frac{2}{3} \) = \( \frac{88000}{3} \) = 29,333 fans.

The ratio of football cards to baseball cards is 7:2 and the ratio of baseball cards to basketball cards is 7:1. To solve this problem, we need the baseball card side of each ratio to be equal so we need to rewrite the ratios in terms of a common number of baseball cards. (Think of this like finding the common denominator when adding fractions.) The ratio of football to baseball cards can also be written as 49:14 and the ratio of baseball cards to basketball cards as 14:2. So, the ratio of football cards to basketball cards is football:baseball, baseball:basketball or 49:14, 14:2 which reduces to 49:2.