If \(\sqrt{a b} = 4\), then what is the value of \(a^{2} b^{2}\)?
Explanation
First, square both sides of the equation: \(\sqrt{a b}=4\); \(a \times b = 16\). Although you do not know the individual values of a and b, \(a^{2} b^{2}=(a b)^{2}\). Accordingly, \((a b)^{2}=(16)^{2}=256\).