What is the image of (12,4)(12,4) after a dilation by a scale factor of \frac{1}{4} ​
centered at the origin?

question:

could we have options?

since your problem is x^4 = 81, what you have to undeo is the "to the fourth power" part.

the inverse (opposite operation) of "to the fourth power" is "to the fourth root".

  (x^4) ^ ¼   = 81 ^ ¼  

  81 = 3^4     so (3 ^ 4) ^ ¼   =   3 ^ 1   = 3

by hand: (3 ^ 4) ^ ¼   =   3 ^ (4 x ¼) = 3 ^ 1   = 3   (when you take a power to a power, multiply the exponents.)

or, do it by calculator. one way of finding the fourth root is to use ^ (1/4)

step-by-step explanation:

answer: 4  

the square root of 16 is 4. it is a very simple mathematic concept. a square root when a number multiplied by itself will result in a number. here, the number 16 comes when 4 is multiplied by 4. hence the square root of 16 is 4. you can always figure out a square root by the inverse operation of squaring.