Final answer:
The expression that could be used to calculate the area of this square is Option B: 8^2. Squaring the side length of the square gives the area of the square. Therefore, the area of the square is 64 square inches.
Step-by-step explanation:
The expression that could be used to calculate the area of this square is Option B: 8^2.
In mathematics, the exponent notation with the superscript of 2 represents squaring a number. Squaring a number means multiplying the number by itself. In this case, the side length of the square is 8 inches. So, the area of the square can be calculated by squaring the side length: 8^2 = 8 x 8 = 64 square inches.
Therefore, Option B (8^2) is the correct expression to calculate the area of the square.