Why cant exponents be added in the product 12 to the 3rd power times 11 to the 3rd power

Remember


the key is that the base is the same

(12³)(11³) cannot be added

you have to understand  how exponents work
12³=12*12*12
11³=11*11*11
so

if we had (12³)(11³), that is equal to 12*12*12*11*11*11
if we tried to add the expoennts, we would get 6, but would it be 12⁶ or 11⁶?
neither

so that's why the exponents can't be added, it's because they have different bases. we need to have the same base to add exponents