Question

Subtract (5 − 2i) − (1 + 8i).


Which property allows you to write the expression as 5 − 2i − 1 − 8i?


associative

commutative

distributive

identity

Answer 1

(5 − 2i) − (1 + 8i) = 5 − 2i − 1 − 8i = (5 − 1) + (−2i − 8i) = 4 − 10i.

The property used to remove the parentheses and apply the minus sign to each term is the distributive property (multiplying the parentheses by −1).