Trying to simplify $\frac{\sqrt{8}-\sqrt{16}}{4-\sqrt{2}} - 2^{1/2}$ into $\frac{-5\sqrt{2}-6}{7}$

$$\begin{align} \frac{\sqrt{8}-\sqrt{16}}{4-\sqrt{2}}-\sqrt{2}&=\frac{2\sqrt{2}-4}{4-\sqrt{2}}-\sqrt{2}\\ &=\frac{2\sqrt{2}-4}{4-\sqrt{2}}-\frac{4\sqrt{2}-2}{4-\sqrt{2}}\\ &=\frac{-2\sqrt{2}-2}{4-\sqrt{2}}\\ &=\frac{-2\sqrt{2}-2}{4-\sqrt{2}}~\cdot~\frac{4+\sqrt{2}}{4+\sqrt{2}}\\ &=\frac{-10\sqrt{2}-12}{14}\\ &=\frac{-5\sqrt{2}-6}{7} \end{align}$$


You were doing fine until the place where you tried to expand $(2\sqrt2 - 4)(4 + \sqrt2).$

There are mnemonic techniques for this but I think plain old distributive law works well enough: \begin{align} (2\sqrt2 - 4)(4 + \sqrt2) &= (2\sqrt2 - 4)4 + (2\sqrt2 - 4)\sqrt2 \\ &= (8\sqrt2 - 16) + (4 - 4\sqrt2) \\ &= 4\sqrt2 - 12. \end{align}

Next you might notice a chance to cancel a factor of $2$ in the numerator and denominator of $\frac{4\sqrt2 - 12}{14}.$

And finally you'll want to change the $-\sqrt2$ so that you have two fractions with a common denominator and can finish.


\begin{align} \frac{\sqrt{8}-\sqrt{16}}{4-\sqrt{2}} - 2^{1/2} & = \frac{2\sqrt{2}-4}{4-\sqrt{2}}\cdot \frac{4+\sqrt{2}}{4+\sqrt{2}} - \sqrt{2} \\ & = \frac{4\sqrt{2}-12}{14} - \sqrt{2} \\ & = \frac{2\sqrt{2}-6}{7} - \sqrt{2} \\ & = \frac{2\sqrt{2}-6 -7 \sqrt{2}}{7}\\ & = \frac{-5\sqrt{2} -6 }{7} \end{align}