To rewrite the difference (−3x2+5x−2)−2(x2−2x−1) in the form ax2+bx+c, the expression can be simplified by using the distributive property and combining like terms as follows: (−3x2+5x−2)−(2x2−4x−2) (−3x2−2x2)+(5x−(−4x))+(−2−(−2)) −5x2+9x+0 Alternatively, since b is the coefficient of x in the difference (−3x2+5x−2)−2(x2−2x−1), one need only compute the x-term in the difference. The x-term is 5x−2(−2x)=5x+4x=9x, so the value of b is 9.