Sure, let's calculate (52)^2 by breaking down 52 into 50 (a) and 2 (b) and using the formula (a + b)^2 = a^2 + b^2 + 2ab.
Step 1: Calculate a^2, which means we square a, or 50. That gives us 2500.
Step 2: Calculate b^2, the square of b, or 2. That turns out to be 4.
Step 3: Calculate 2ab, which means we multiply a (50) and b (2) together and then double the result. The outcome is 200.
Step 4: Finally, to work out (a + b)^2, we just add the results from step 1, step 2, and step 3, which are a^2, b^2 and 2ab respectively. Adding those up, 2500 + 4 + 200, we get 2704.
So, based on the identity (a + b)^2 = a^2 + b^2 + 2ab, (52)^2 equals 2704.