The question asks to identify the base and exponent of the expression $5^8$ and then write it in its expanded form.

1. Base (b): The base is the number being raised to a power, which is 5.
2. Exponent (e): The exponent is the power to which the base is raised, which is 8.

The expanded form of $5^8$ is:

$5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5$

From the given choices, the correct answer is:

Option B: $b = 5, e = 8, 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5 \times 5$.

Would you like more details on exponents, or do you have any questions?

Related Questions:

1. What is an exponent, and how does it work?
2. How do you simplify expressions with exponents?
3. What is the difference between the base and exponent?
4. How do you multiply numbers with the same base but different exponents?
5. How do you convert between exponential and expanded forms?

Tip: When multiplying repeated factors of the same number, you can simplify using exponents to make calculations easier.