Answer:
How could exploration of a new land bring power to a person? To a nation?
Step-by-step explanation:
The motivation for exploring new land was the lack of resources in one's home nation that sent them around the world seeking untapped resouces. The discovery of new land with provided explorers with the power to obtain these resources such as gold or animal hides, and take them back to their home nation, thus making the rich and in turn, powerful.
Colonial nations obtained power through the exploration of land by exploiting the people they colonized and the materials that their land had to offer. This power was given to them through mercantilism. Britain is a great example of that. They facilitated the slave trade, collected the cotton, tobacco, sugar, etc, and distrubted those products worldwide. As no other nation could produce what Britain was providing, the other nations became reliant on Britain for these products, ergo making them very powerful.