Use the distributive property to simplify the expression.
$\frac{1}{4}(8-12)$

• A. $1$
• B. $-2$
• C. $-1$
• D. $2$

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the expression to simplify: \(\frac14(8 - 12)\).
2. Apply the distributive property, which means multiplying \(\frac14\) by each term inside the parentheses separately: \(\frac14 \times 8\) and \(\frac14 \times (-12)\).
3. Calculate each multiplication separately: \(\frac14 \times 8\) and \(\frac14 \times (-12)\) (do not compute the final values yet, just set up the multiplication).
4. Rewrite the expression as the sum of these two products: \(\frac14 \times 8 + \frac14 \times (-12)\).
5. Simplify each product by performing the multiplication of the fraction and the integer to get the simplified terms.