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I need help with this question please. The ending of the question says: give the leading coefficient.

I need help with this question please. The ending of the question says: give the leading-example-1
User Fer Martin
by
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1 Answer

21 votes
21 votes

Given the polynomial:


-x^3+10x-4x^5+3x^2+7x^4+14

You need to remember the following definitions:

- The degree of a polynomial is the highest exponent.

- The Leading Coefficient is the number that multiplies the variable with the highest exponent.

- The Standard Form of a polynomial shows the terms in descending numerical order.

In this case, you can identify that:

1. The highest exponent of the polynomial is 5. Therefore:


Degree\colon5

2. The Constant Term is:


14

Therefore, you can rewrite it in descending numerical order:


\begin{gathered} \\ =-4x^5+7x^4-x^3+3x^2+10x+14 \end{gathered}

Now you can identify that the Leading Coefficient is:


-4

Hence, the answer is: Last option.

User Christoph Burschka
by
3.1k points