Question

How do you state the degree and leading coefficient of the polynomial function `F(x) = 14+ 13x^4 - 6x - 14x^3 -8x^2`?

Answer 1

The leading coefficient is `13`
The degree is `4`

Explanation:

To obtain the leading coefficient it is necessary to rewrite the equation in canonical form, that is with the terms listed in descending order of their `x` exponents:

`F(x) = 13x^4-14x^3-8x^2-6x+14`

The leading coefficient is the coefficient of the highest order `x` term

The degree is the degree (exponent) of the highest order `x` term