(x+y)^4 I am trying to simplify this problem and am kinda confused by it

This is already as simple as it will get.  You could expand it though.  In that case you'd get:

(x + y)⁴

= (x² + 2xy + y²)²

= x⁴ + 2x³y + x²y² + 2x³y + 4x²y² + 2xy³ + x²y² + 2xy³ + y⁴

=  x⁴ + 4x³y + 6x²y² +4xy³ + y⁴

But this doesn't simplify at all.

the smallest possible measurement of the width is 14 feet

step-by-step explanation:

let's assume length of parallelogram is 'l'

width of parallelogram is 'w'

the perimeter of a parallelogram must be no less than 40 feet

so, we get

we are given

length of parallelogram is 6 feet

so,

l=6

we can plug it

now, we can solve for w

subtract both sides by 12

divide both sides by 2

and we get

so,

the smallest possible measurement of the width is 14 feet