How do you simplify #(x+4) (x-3)#?

1 Answer
Nov 11, 2015

The only way to simplify this equation is by expansion and grouping together the like terms.

Explanation:

Expanding out the brackets
To expand out the brackets we'll use the F.O.I.L rule. The F stands for first, we will multiply the first term in both brackets together to get #x^2#. O stands for outside, we'll multiply the outside terms together, #x# and #-3# to get #-3x#. I stands for inside, we'll multiply the two inside terms together to get #4x#. Finally L stands for Last, the last terms in both brackets. Multiplying them together we get #-12#.

Overall we get #x^2-3x+4x-12#

Grouping together like terms
This part is easy! Any terms that are the same we group together into one term. The only terms we have that are the same are #-3x# and #4x# grouping these together we get #x#.

This means our final answer is #x^2+x-12#