1. Let's start by understanding the problem: You want to know what the minus sign before the 4 means in terms of a transformation. 2. In transformations, a number before a variable or function often represents a scaling or reflection. 3. Specifically, a negative sign before a number indicates a reflection across an axis. 4. For example, if you have a transformation like $y = -4x$, the $-4$ means two things: - The 4 scales the input by a factor of 4 (stretching it). - The negative sign reflects the graph across the x-axis (if applied to the output) or y-axis (if applied to the input). 5. In general, a negative sign before a constant in a transformation flips the graph over the relevant axis, changing the direction or orientation. 6. So, the minus before the 4 means the transformation includes a reflection in addition to scaling by 4.