1. **State the problem:** Use the distributive property to remove the parentheses in the expression $$7(y + 4)$$. 2. **Recall the distributive property formula:** $$a(b + c) = ab + ac$$. This means you multiply the term outside the parentheses by each term inside the parentheses. 3. **Apply the distributive property:** Multiply 7 by $$y$$ and then 7 by 4. $$7(y + 4) = 7 \times y + 7 \times 4$$ 4. **Simplify the expression:** $$7y + 28$$ 5. **Final answer:** The expression without parentheses is $$7y + 28$$. This means the distributive property allows you to remove parentheses by multiplying the outside term by each term inside, then adding the results.