-2(x+1) = -2x - 2

Question

This is about the distributive property

Answer 1

The distributive property is:

 

a(b+c) = ab + ac

 

It's called the distributive property because you're distributing the multiplication (by a) across all of the terms in the parentheses.  Let's try it for a simple case and see if it works:

 

3(4+2)

 

If I add the numbers in the parentheses first, I get:

 

3(4+2) = 3(6) = 18

 

Using the distributive property:

 

3(4+2) = 3*4 + 3*2 = 12 + 6 = 18

 

We get he same answer!  So for your problem:

 

-2(x+1) = -2*x + (-2)*1 = -2x - 2