Question

How do you use the distributive property to simplify `-(12-4x)+8(10-x)`?

Answer 1

The simplified form is `-4x+68`

Explanation:

The Distributive Property is when you apply a coefficient to all terms inside a set of parentheses. For this expression, we will use The Distributive Property twice:

`-(12-4x)+8(10-x)=-1xx(12-4x)+8xx(10-x)`

Let's do the first distribution:

`-1xx(12-4x)=(-1xx12)-(-1xx4x) = (-12)-(-4x)`

`rArr-12+4x`

...And now the second:

`8xx(10-x)=(8xx10)-(8xx x) = (80)-(8x)`

`rArr80-8x`

Finally, we put these two distributed expressions back into the original equation and simplify:

`-12+4x+80-8x = 4x-8x+80-12`

`color(red)(rArr -4x+68)`