Challenge Problem with len Method

Question

a=str(‘2‘*3**2)
print(len(a))

Why is it 9 please ? a should contain 8 items?
Is there a way to Look up for explanations if you answer a challenge question wrong? The right answer only is Not enough sometimes

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

3**2 is 9 cuz ** means exponent|empower
and then it will multiply "2" 9 times
so in the end you will have string 222222222 and lenght of it is 9

Answer 2

Lol didnt even know 3**2 means 3*3.
what happens to the string '2' when 3**2=9 is executed? it seems it doesnt have any effect on the result.

sorry for those noob questions

Answer 3

started to learn python months ago and can‘t remember what len excactly does.
thought it would count the items in a variable/list

Answer 4

Thanks budd