What correctly simplifies (9x^2 + 17x + 13) – (2x^2 + 12x + 11)?

1 answer

To simplify the expression \((9x^2 + 17x + 13) - (2x^2 + 12x + 11)\), we'll start by distributing the negative sign across the second polynomial:

\[ (9x^2 + 17x + 13) - (2x^2 + 12x + 11) = 9x^2 + 17x + 13 - 2x^2 - 12x - 11 \]

Next, we can group the like terms:

  1. Combine the \(x^2\) terms: \[ 9x^2 - 2x^2 = 7x^2 \]

  2. Combine the \(x\) terms: \[ 17x - 12x = 5x \]

  3. Combine the constant terms: \[ 13 - 11 = 2 \]

Now, we can write the simplified expression by adding these results together:

\[ 7x^2 + 5x + 2 \]

Thus, the final simplified expression is

\[ \boxed{7x^2 + 5x + 2} \]