Question

How do you multiply `- ( -3u - z - 5 )`?

Answer 1

Each term gets multiplied by the `-1` and we add up the results to get `3u+z+5`

Explanation:

Let's start with the question:

`-(-3u-z-5)`

Let's first realize that the negative sign at the front of the brackets is the number `-1`:

`(-1)(-3u-z-5)`

So now to the distributive principle - each term in the first set of brackets (the `-1`) gets to multiply each of the terms in the second set of brackets (the `(-3u-z-5)`). And then we write down the results of each multiplication:

`-1*-3u=3u`
`-1*-z=z`
`-1*-5=5`

And now we add up the results:

`3u+z+5`