Question

COMBINING LIKE TERMS Apply the distributive property. Then simplify by combining like terms. $$ 7 x-3 x(x+1) $$

Short answer

-3x^2 + 4x

Step-by-step solution

Apply the Distributive Property

Applying the distributive property to -3x(x+1) gives -3x^2 - 3x. Therefore the new expression becomes 7x - 3x^2 - 3x.

Combine Like Terms

After applying the distributive law, now combine the like terms which are 7x and -3x together. So, the expression further simplifies to 4x - 3x^2.

Rearrange the Terms

Generally, expressions are written in decreasing powers of x. Therefore, rearranging the terms, the final simplified expression is -3x^2 + 4x.