john: 8 - 3[-2(2 - 5) - 4(8 - 6)]
Why is this causing you a problem John?
You just do what is in the inside brackets first and work out from there.
When there is nothing between a number and a bracket, there is really an invisable multiply sign that you will need to put in. Is that what your problems was?
so the first line is
= 8 - 3 x [-2 x -3 - 4 x 2]
now, multiply is more important than subtract. I mean, you multiply before you subtract.
And, when you
multiply pos and neg numbers just remember that if the signs are the same, the answer is postitive and if the signs are different the answer is negative.
So the next line will be
=8 - 3 x [6-8]
You see if you can finish it.
+118654 
