Final answer:
The degree of the polynomial -3w² + 2 - 7w - 23w² is 2 (quadratic), and its leading coefficient is -26 after combining like terms.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the degree and the leading coefficient of the polynomial -3w² + 2 - 7w - 23w², we first need to combine like terms. As both -3w² and -23w² are terms with w squared, we add them up to get -26w². So, the simplified form of the polynomial is -26w² - 7w + 2.
Now that we have simplified the polynomial, the degree is the highest power of the variable w, which is 2. This means the given polynomial is a quadratic polynomial. The leading coefficient is the coefficient of the term with the highest power, which in this case is -26.