Explain what 4 raised to the second power mean

Idont understand math at all! : o( use this scenario to answer the remaining questions: brenton purchased a new bedroom set for $4,500.00. he lives in arizona and pays a 8.75% sales tax. if he made a 50% down payment and financed the rest, what amount did he finance? what is the total sales tax brenton will pay? enter your answer in currency format, round to the nearest cent. what was brenton's total amount financed? enter your answer in currency format, round to the nearest cent.

John read the first 114 pages of a novel, which was 3 pages less than 1/3 of the novel. write an equation to determine the total number of pages (p)(p) in the novel.

Math it's appreciated. (picture provided)