Quote:

It's not 12^2 ft. That would be 144 ft
It's 12ft^2. It's a different quantity.


just for clarity could you put the two in words so that
I can better understand how they are pronounced.
yet you say they have different quantities.

12^2 ft = ?

12ft^2 = ?

the ^2 must have different meanings because the two
above have the same symbol in them.

and using the symbol as it is commonly used the following
is true.

12 squared ft
is exactly the same as
12 feet squared

ie...

the only thing above that can be multiplied by itself is the number 12

try to multiply ft*ft what you always get is ft !!
now try (ft*ft*ft*ft) / ft^2 * (ft-ft-ft) = ft
try any combination you always get ft

guess what ft hasnt got a numeric value !!!

so remove ft and you have

12 squared
and
12 squared

each of the above = 144






3/4 inch of dust build up on the moon in 4.527 billion years,LOL and QM is fantasy science.