Question

5. Heinz boasts that he can predict the degree of a polynomial function just by looking at the end behavior. Can Heinz do this? Explain.

Answer 1

@Katt7 what do you mean by end behavior?

Answer 2

end behavior is like the odd or even degree in the polynomial function @ash2326

Answer 3

Well, you have began to partiall answer your question. You have said that the end behavior can signify odd or even highest degrees, such as
\[f(x) = x^{3} \]
approaches -infinity from the left and positive from the right. However, I would ask you to graph
\[f(x) = x^3 + 3x \]
and
\[f(x) = x^5 - 5x^2 + x\]

Just by looking at both end behaviours, would you be able to tell what degree the function has?

Answer 4

No, you can't predict the degree - only whether the highest power of x is odd or even.