Solve the following problem:
Solve the following problem:
Simplify the following expression whilst following the order of operations. The order of operations states that exponents precede multiplication and division, which in turn precede addition and subtraction, and that parentheses precede all of the above:
Therefore, begin by simplifying the expressions inside of the parentheses first, noting that in this problem there are two pairs of parentheses. Thus we'll simplify gradually, starting with the expression inside of the left parentheses in the first term on the left and perform the addition within them. Simultaneously begin simplifying the expression in the right parentheses, following the order of operations mentioned above. Hence we'll perform the multiplication operation first:
Continue simplifying the expression, by completing the simplification of the remaining right parentheses. Proceed to the subtraction operation, and simultaneously perform the division operations in the first two terms of the expression that we obtained in the last step. This leaves us with the addition operations between all terms for the end in accordance with the order of operations:
Let's continue, again performing first the division operation in the third term from the left and finally performing the addition operations:
Shown below are the various steps we took to simplify the given expression:
Therefore, the correct answer is answer D.
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