How do you use the distributive property to simplify #–9 + 4(2x – 1) + 8#?

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Answer 1 · 2018-05-27T18:32:03

#8x - 5#

#-9 + 4(2x-1) + 8#

First, we know that #-9 + 8# simplifies to #-1#, so it becomes;
#-1 + 4(2x-1)#

Now we use the distributive property (shown below) to simplify/expand #4(2x-1)#:
cdn.virtualnerd.com

Following this image, we know that:
#color(blue)(4(2x-1) = (4 * 2x) + (4 * -1) = 8x - 4)#

Put that back into the expression:
#-1 + 8x - 4#

Simplify #-1 - 4 = -5#:
Therefore, the simplified expression is:
#-5 + 8x#

We typically put variables before pure numbers, so the expression becomes:
#8x - 5#

Hope this helps!