use a product rule of exponents to simplify the expression six to the fourth power times six to the -2 power

Applying the product rule of exponents, we can simplify the expression:

6^4 * 6^-2

The product rule states that when multiplying exponential expressions with the same base, we can add their exponents.

In this case, the base is 6, so we can add the exponents 4 and -2:

6^(4 + (-2))

4 + (-2) simplifies to 2, so we have:

6^2

Therefore, the simplified expression is 6 squared or 36.