That's the wrong answer. If you mean this: a-4b(a+b) then we distribute only the -4b: a-4ba-4bČ and since "a" comes before "b" in the alphabet we write "ba" as "ab" to keep alphabetical order: a-4ab-4bČ <--final answer --------------------------- However if you meant this (a-4b)(a+b) then we must first write the second parenthese beside each of the two terms in the first parentheses like this: a(a+b)-4b(a+b) Then we distribute twice, once with the "a" over (a+b), and then again with the -4b over the (a+b) aČ+ab-4ba-4bČ Now since "ba" is the same as "ab" we write aČ+ab-4ab-4bČ Finally since +ab and -4ab are like terms, we combine the coefficients and get aČ-3ab-4bČ <--final answer Edwin