How do you write a polynomial in standard form, then classify it by degree and number of terms #5x^3-x^5+8x+2x^4#?

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Answer 1 · 2018-07-08T22:48:07

Standard form: #-x^5 + 2x^4 + 5x^3 + 8x#

Degree: #5#

Number of terms: #4#

To write it in standard form, it must be from largest to smallest exponent.

The largest exponent is #5#, then #4#, #3#, and #1#, so let's order it that way:
#-x^5 + 2x^4 + 5x^3 + 8x#

Classifying it by degree means what is the highest exponent there. That would be #5# (from #-x^5#).

The number of terms means how many "terms" are separated by the #+# and #-# operations. Therefore, there are 4 terms.

Hope this helps!