rewrite the expression using the distributive property: 4(-8 - 8b + 7) =

Question

I can never remember these simple steps.

Answer 1

4(-8 - 8b + 7) = -32 -32b + 28

 

Note:  The problem does not ask you to do any more than this.

Answer 2

Always combine everything you can within the parentheses first, so:

 

(-8 - 8b + 7) = ( -8b - 8 + 7) = (-8b - 1)

 

Now multiply everything inside the parentheses by 4:

 

4(-8b - 1) = 4(-8b) + 4(-1) = -32b - 4