Question

Raj writes a polynomial expression in standard form using one variable, a, that has 4 terms and is degree 5.

Nicole writes a polynomial expression in standard form using one variable, a, that has 3 terms and is degree 2.

Raj and Nicole’s polynomial expressions are added to create a sum, written in standard form.

What can you determine about the degree of the sum?

The sum will be degree

Answer 1

The sum of Raj's degree 5 polynomial and Nicole's degree 2 polynomial will be a polynomial of degree 5, which is determined by Raj's highest degree term.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Raj's degree 5 polynomial and Nicole's degree 2 polynomial are added, the degree of the sum will be determined by the term with the highest degree. Since Raj's polynomial is of degree 5 and Nicole's polynomial is of degree 2, none of Nicole's terms will affect the highest degree term of Raj's polynomial. Therefore, the degree of the resulting polynomial, when adding both, will be degree 5.