Asked by christian

Donte simplified the expression below.

4 (1 + 3 i) minus (8 minus 5 i). 4 + 3 i minus 8 + 5 i. Negative 4 + 8 i.

What mistake did Donte make?
He did not apply the distributive property correctly for 4(1 + 3i).
He did not distribute the subtraction sign correctly for 8 – 5i.
He added the real number and coefficient of i in 4(1 + 3i).
He added the two complex numbers instead of subtracted.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
He did not apply the distributive property correctly for 4(1 + 3i).

Donte wrote 4 + 3i instead of 4 + 12i. Correctly:
4(1 + 3i) - (8 - 5i) = 4 + 12i - 8 + 5i = -4 + 17i.