Question

What are the coefficients of x in the following terms?

I don't understand coefficients.

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Answer 1

27. 3

28. 2a

29. y²

30. 280yz

31. 1

32. 1/3

Explanation:

One way to think about a coefficient is this: Set the value of the variable of interest to 1 and evaluate the expression. The value of the expression is the coefficient of the variable of interest.

Here, you're only interested in the variable x, so its coefficient is everything that is not x. The coefficients are ...

27. 3

28. 2a

29. y²

30. 280yz

31. 1 . . . . . a lot of students get tripped up by this one. Setting x=1 makes it obvious.

32. 1/3

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Sometimes you're asked for the coefficient in a term. In the case of the term 280xyz, the appropriate answer to that question is 280, the constant that multiplies all the variables. When no constant is showing, the coefficient is 1, as in question 31.