Final answer:
Assuming the expression provided is meant to follow order of operations, the second step in simplifying the unclear equation would typically involve exponentiation, after any parenthesis are taken care of. However, the expression lacks clear operations, making it difficult to determine a definitive step without additional information.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct order of operations, also known as PEMDAS or BODMAS, dictates that one should perform operations inside parentheses first, followed by exponents (or indices), then multiplication and division (from left to right), and finally addition and subtraction (from left to right). Given the expression 4 (2.9) 5? 1, and assuming the ? represents the need to determine the next step in simplification, the second step, after addressing any parentheses, would be to apply the exponentiation. However, since the expression as written is unclear and lacks clear operations between the numbers, a definitive second step cannot be precisely identified. In cases where an exponent is applied, be sure to handle both positive and negative exponents correctly and adjust the form of your result to be in standard form if necessary.