Im going to assume that you need the two numbers subtracted from each other,, but if it happens to be something else let me know and i will help you find the correct answer. the first step to solving this is to replace the b in the expression with 1. this will look like the following: 33(1)-40 any expression multiplied by 1 remains the same so the expression becomes 33 - 40 calculate the difference -7 the correct answer to your question is -7. let me know if you have any further questions :)