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

2 Answers
Jun 1, 2018

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

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)

Jun 1, 2018

x^3-x^2-2x

Explanation:

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

=x^3-x^2-2x