Question

What is the leading term, leading coefficient, and degree of this polynomial `f(x)=-2x^3(x+5)^4(x-3)^2`?

Answer 1

The leading term is `- 2 x^9`, and the leading coefficient is `- 2`, and the degree of this polynomial is 9.

Explanation:

You first express the the polynomial in its canonical form consisting of a conbination of monomials, you get:

`-2x^9-8x^8-198x^7+620 x^6+2050x^5-1500x^4-11250x^3`

The degree is the term with the greatest exponent, which is in this case 9.