What is the expression 4 + 8(3x - 2) - 7x when simplified? Apply the order of operations and the commutative and distributive properties. Show all your work.
To simplify the expression 4 + 8(3x - 2) - 7x, we need to apply the distributive property and combine like terms.
First, let's distribute the 8 to the terms inside the parentheses:
4 + 8 * 3x - 8 * 2 - 7x
Simplifying further, we have:
4 + 24x - 16 - 7x
Now, let's combine like terms:
(24x - 7x) + (4 - 16)
This gives:
17x + (-12)
Finally, we can rewrite the expression using the commutative property:
-12 + 17x
Thus, the simplified expression is -12 + 17x.