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How can you use the distributive property to simplify the expression 4(2x - 5)?

User Fenixil
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1 Answer

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9 votes

To simplify the expression 4(2x - 5) using the distributive property, you can distribute the 4 to the 2x and -5. This gives you the following:

4(2x - 5) = 4 * 2x + 4 * (-5)

= 8x - 20

So, the expression 4(2x - 5) simplifies to 8x - 20.

The distributive property states that for any real numbers a, b, and c, a(b + c) = ab + ac. This means that when you multiply a number by a group of numbers that are being added or subtracted, you can distribute the number to each of the terms in the group and then perform the multiplication. In this case, 4 is being distributed to both 2x and -5, so the 4 is multiplied by each of these terms.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

User Tuya
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