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Simplify the expression.

–4 – 5(x + 8)
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–4 – 5(x + 8)

= -4 - 5x - 40
= -4 - 5x - 40

Did you know?

Did you know that you can simplify expressions by following a set of rules? Let's take the expression –4 – 5(x + 8) as an example. To simplify it, we can start by applying the distributive property, which states that multiplying a number by a sum is the same as multiplying the number by each term in the sum and then adding those products. So, we multiply 5 by both x and 8, resulting in –4 – 5x – 40. Next, we combine like terms, which means adding or subtracting terms that have the same variable and exponent. Here we have –4 and –40, which combine to give –44. Finally, we have –5x, which cannot be combined with any other terms since it is the only term with that variable. Therefore, the simplified expression is –44 – 5x.