Question

Given the expression 5a^2b – 13ab + 7a^3 – 4b, do the following as instructed below:

Answer 1

A.Write the polynomial in descending order.
B.Classify the polynomial by the number of terms.
C.State the degree of the polynomial.@phi

Answer 2

@phi

Answer 3

so would it be this for A 7a^3=5a^2b-13ab-4b?

Answer 4

@peachpi

Answer 5

yes assuming the = was a typo

Answer 6

yes , = means +

Answer 7

ys its +

Answer 8

so do you guys think thats correct descending order

Answer 9

yes. In theory we could order it according to the "b"s , but the a's have a higher power

Answer 10

ok so its correct. So for B I said the term is polynomial

Answer 11

is that correct

Answer 12

yes, but they also want the number of terms (things between the + or -)

Answer 13

4?

Answer 14

yes, it is a 4 term polynomial

Answer 15

so they don't want the name but they want number?

Answer 16

I need help with degree part c

Answer 17

they want "4 term polynomial"

the degree is the biggest exponent. easy to find, because we order the terms from biggest exponent to smallest

Answer 18

but doesnt 2 of them have 3 as degree?

Answer 19

5a^2b is 3 right? and 7a^3 is also 3

Answer 20

yes, we should count a^2 b as degree 3

but what we care about is the term with the biggest exponent. (in this case 3)
it does not matter if there are more than one term with that degree.

Answer 21

so 7a^3 is the degree?

Answer 22

no. just 3
if we did not have 7a^3, the degree would still be 3 (because of the 5a^2b)
and if we did not have either of those, the degree would be 2 (from -13ab)

Answer 23

so i just write 3 where it says state the degree of the polynomial

Answer 24

yes

Answer 25

ok thanks again!