How do you use the distributive property to simplify $- 2 (z - 4)$ $-2(z-4)$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2017-02-10T15:06:15

See the entire simplification process below:

Multiply each term in the parenthesis by $- 2$ $color(red)(-2)$ . Be sure to manage the signs of the individual terms correctly:

$(- 2 \times z) + (- 2 \times - 4) \to$ $(color(red)(-2) xx z) + (color(red)(-2) xx -4) ->$

$- 2 z + 8$ $-2z + 8$

or

$8 - 2 z$ $8 - 2z$

Answer 2 · 2017-02-10T15:07:00

See explanation.

The distributive property states that for every real numbers $a, b$ $a,b$ and $c$ $c$

$a \times (b \pm c) = a \times b \pm a \times c$ $axx(b+-c)=axxb+-axxc$

If we apply this rule to the example we get:

$- 2 \times (z - 4) = - 2 \times z - (- 2) \times 4 = - 2 z + 8$ $-2xx(z-4)=-2xxz-(-2)xx4=-2z+8$