Question

I need help with this question please. The ending of the question says: give the leading coefficient.

Answer 1

Given the polynomial:

$-x^3+10x-4x^5+3x^2+7x^4+14$

You need to remember the following definitions:

- The degree of a polynomial is the highest exponent.

- The Leading Coefficient is the number that multiplies the variable with the highest exponent.

- The Standard Form of a polynomial shows the terms in descending numerical order.

In this case, you can identify that:

1. The highest exponent of the polynomial is 5. Therefore:

$Degree\colon5$

2. The Constant Term is:

$14$

Therefore, you can rewrite it in descending numerical order:

$\begin{gathered} \\ =-4x^5+7x^4-x^3+3x^2+10x+14 \end{gathered}$

Now you can identify that the Leading Coefficient is:

$-4$

Hence, the answer is: Last option.