Let’s examine the steps to identify any potential errors in the subtraction process.
Starting with the two polynomials:
\[
(3x^4 - 8x^2 + 4x) - (9x - 5x^4 + 2x^2)
\]
When subtracting the second polynomial, it's important to distribute the negative sign correctly across all terms in the second polynomial. Here's how it should go:
- Step 1: Apply the subtraction:
\[
3x^4 - 8x^2 + 4x - 9x + 5x^4 - 2x^2
\]
In this step, you correctly changed \( - (9x - 5x^4 + 2x^2) \) to \( -9x + 5x^4 - 2x^2 \).
-
Step 2: Combine like terms:
\[
3x^4 + 5x^4 - 8x^2 - 2x^2 + 4x - 9x
\]
- \( 3x^4 + 5x^4 = 8x^4\)
- \( -8x^2 - 2x^2 = -10x^2\) (this is where the error occurs)
- \( 4x - 9x = -5x\)
-
Final answer: Combine the results:
\[
8x^4 - 10x^2 - 5x
\]
So, the final answer should be:
\[
8x^4 - 10x^2 - 5x
\]
The error occurred during Step 2 when combining the \(x^2\) terms. You computed \(-8x^2 + 2x^2\) incorrectly as \(-6x^2\) when it should have been \(-10x^2\).