4 times 2= 8. so, 4times k2 = k8. To understand this better, imagine that k equaled 2. That would make the expression above = (2x2)4, which would equal 16. However, since we don't know the value of k, we have to use the numbers that we already have, It would be like solving the expression: (2x2)4 without multiplying the first 2. It would then be 2x8. So, we just simplified it, we didn't solve it.