Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not sure I fully understand, though.
When I re-arranged the like terms, I got from start-finish, like so:
x² - 3x³ + 4x - x³ + 2x - y + 3x²x² + 3x² - 3x³ - x³ + 4x + 2x - y
That subsequently turned into:
(x² + 3x²) - (-3x³ - x³) + (4x + 2x) - y
Now, when you subtract a polynomial, you have to change all the minus signs
outside of the parenthesis, to additions, correct? OK, so with that, that should turn into this, as stated earlier:
(x² + 3x²) + (-3x³ - x³) + (4x + 2x) - y
So how come in this other example, this happens:
(3a² + ab - b²) - (4ab - b² + 2a²) = (3a² + ab - b²) + (-4ab + b² - 2a²) = 3a² + ab - b² - 4ab + b² - 2a² = (3a² - 2a²) + (ab - 4ab) - (-b² + b²) = <-- last binomial. a² + (-3ab) = a² - 3ab
Apparently I got that example correct, but wouldn't that mean I should've worked it out as:
(3a² - 2a²) + (ab - 4ab) + (b² - b²) = <-- last binomial.
Eh wait, I can see why that'd give the same result. Am I right in what I've just stated?
Thanks ever so much for the replies,
-hellz