No problem, let's work through this together. We're starting with 72049 and are subtracting 26978 from it.

Step 1: We'll start by subtracting the digit 8 and the borrow 0 from 9 in column 1 and get 1.
1 is the first digit of our result.

Step 2: We'll start by subtracting the digit 7 and the borrow 0 from 4 in column 2 and get -3.
We add -3 to 10 and get 7 as the next digit of the result.

Step 3: We'll start by subtracting the digit 9 and the borrow 1 from 0 in column 3 and get -10.
We add -10 to 10 and get 0 as the next digit of the result.

Step 4: We'll start by subtracting the digit 6 and the borrow 1 from 2 in column 4 and get -5.
We add -5 to 10 and get 5 as the next digit of the result.

Step 5: We'll start by subtracting the digit 2 and the borrow 1 from 7 in column 5 and get 4.
4 is the next digit of our result.

So, 72049 - 26978 = 45071.