# How do you simplify 1-(x+4)?

Nov 4, 2014

$1 - \left(x + 4\right)$

Ok, so imagine there's a negative one in front of the $\left(x + 4\right)$ because that's easier to understand. One way to write that would be:

$1 - 1 \left(x + 4\right)$

Distribute the negative 1 into the equation by multiplying -1 by both $x$ and $4$. This leave you with:

$1 - x - 4$

Because 1 minus 4 is $- 3$, that leaves you with:

$- 3 + - x$

Nov 7, 2014

A way you can look at this is like this

$1 - 1 \left(x + 4\right)$

This is the same as the original question, I just added a "1" before the brackets to indicate that the $\left(x - 4\right)$ is actually being multiplied by a $- 1$. So by the distributive property, you could distribute that $- 1$ into the brackets to get rid of them and simplify on from there.

So, we have $1 - 1 \left(x + 4\right)$
By distributing the -1, we get: $1 - 1 x - 4$
Simplifying by addition: $- 3 - 1 x = - 3 - x$

We could just write this as $- 3 - x$ since the 1 before the $x$, although not explicitly shown, is actually there. In the end, you do have ONE $x$. You don't always have to put the one in when you're distributing the negative into the brackets, but I just showed it there to illustrate the fact that the whole bracket was being multiplied by a $- 1$. You could just distribute the negative sign immediately if you wanted to, if you understand that it's the same as multiplying by a $- 1$.