How do you subtract #(x^3 - x - 4) - (x^2 + x - 4)#?

Question

1308 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2018-06-01T19:28:52

See a solution process below:

First, remove all of the terms from parenthesis. Be careful to handle the signs of each individual term correctly:

#x^3 - x - 4 - x^2 - x + 4#

Next, group like terms:

#x^3 - x^2 - x - x - 4 + 4#

Now, combine like terms:

#x^3 - x^2 - 1x - 1x - 4 + 4#

#x^3 - x^2 + (-1 - 1)x + (- 4 + 4)#

#x^3 - x^2 + (-2)x + 0#

#x^3 - x^2 - 2x#

This can be factored as:

#x(x - 2)(x + 1)#

Answer 2 · 2018-06-01T19:30:08

#x^3-x^2-2x#

#x^3-x-4-x^2-x+4#

#=x^3-x^2-2x#