1. **State the problem:** Simplify the expression $2(5x^2 - 10)$. 2. **Recall the distributive property:** $a(b + c) = ab + ac$. This means we multiply each term inside the parentheses by the factor outside. 3. **Apply the distributive property:** $$2(5x^2 - 10) = 2 \times 5x^2 - 2 \times 10$$ 4. **Calculate each multiplication:** $$= 10x^2 - 20$$ 5. **Final simplified expression:** $$10x^2 - 20$$ This is the simplified form of the given expression.