Distribute and Multiply: Distribute the 3x4 across the expression (−2x4y2). To do this, we multiply the coefficients (3 and −2) and add the exponents of like bases (x4 and x4). Calculation: 3×−2=−6 and x4×x4=x8 (since when multiplying like bases, we add the exponents). The y2 term remains unchanged because there is no y term in the first part of the expression to combine it with.
Calculate Result: Write down the simplified expression.After distributing, we have −6x8y2.This is the simplified form of the expression since there are no like terms to combine and no further simplification is possible.