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

#1 - (x+4)#

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

#1 - 1 (x+4)#

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#

A way you can look at this is like this

#1-1(x+4)#

This is the same as the original question, I just added a "1" before the brackets to indicate that the #(x-4)# 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(x+4)#
By distributing the -1, we get: #1-1x-4#
Simplifying by addition: #-3-1x=-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#.