What is the first step in simplifying this difference
(3x^3 - 6x^2 + x -4) - (4x^3 + 8x^2 - 5x + 2)
The first step in simplifying this difference is to remove the parentheses by distributing the negative sign to each term within the second parentheses.
So it becomes:
3x^3 - 6x^2 + x - 4 - 4x^3 - 8x^2 + 5x - 2