What are the rules of powers of powers? [duplicate]

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What would $2^{3^4}$ equate to? I can think of two rules that may apply:

$a^{b^c} = a^{(b^c)}$ (Making $2^{3^4} = 2^{81}\approx2.417\cdot10^{24}$)
or
$a^{b^c} = (a^b)^c = a^{bc}$ (Making $2^{3^4} = 2^{12} = 4096$)

Which of these is true?

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1 Answer

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As Dietrich Burde stated in a comment, the standard convention is that $a^{b^c} = a^{\left(b^c\right)}$. In my mind this convention is due to the fact that $\left(a^b\right)^c$ doesn't need the nested exponent since it is equal to $a^{bc}$ as you observe.

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