How do you simplify $(x – 8)(x + 5)$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2018-03-25T12:59:19

See a solution process below:

To multiply these two terms you multiply each individual term in the left parenthesis by each individual term in the right parenthesis.

$(color(red)(x) - color(red)(8))(color(blue)(x) + color(blue)(5))$ becomes:

$(color(red)(x) xx color(blue)(x)) + (color(red)(x) xx color(blue)(5)) - (color(red)(8) xx color(blue)(x)) - (color(red)(8) xx color(blue)(5))$

$x^2 + 5x - 8x - 40$

We can now combine like terms:

$x^2 + (5 - 8)x - 40$

$x^2 + (-3)x - 40$

$x^2 - 3x - 40$

How do you simplify (x – 8)(x + 5)(x – 8)(x + 5)?