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27 votes
I’m not sure what I did wrong

I’m not sure what I did wrong-example-1
User Shrikant Tanwade
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1 Answer

23 votes
23 votes

Answer:

  • terms: 2x³, -9x
  • coefficients: 2, -9

Explanation:

You want to identify the terms and coefficients in the expression 2x³-9x.

Terms

A polynomial is a sum of terms. Some of the terms may be negative. The minus sign is part of the term.

2x³ -9x = (2x³) +(-9x)

The terms are 2x³ and -9x.

Coefficients

The coefficient is the numerical multiplier of the variable(s) in a term. Some of the coefficients may be negative. The minus sign is part of the coefficient.

The coefficients are 2 and -9.

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Additional comment

The ideas of "term" and "coefficient" are actually somewhat flexible. They depend a bit on the context. In the above, the context is a polynomial with numerical coefficients.

For example, the coefficient of P in Prt is (rt). And we can refer to H(L+W) as a term in the expression 2(LW +H(L+W)).

User Xtian
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2.7k points