Suppose p(x)=5x^5-3x+7 and q(x)=3x^2-9. What is the degree of p(x)*q(x)?

Question

 I DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY MEAN BY DEGREE OR EVEN WHAT TO DO PLEASE HELP AND EXPLAIN 

Answer 1

The degree is simply the highest exponent of the variable. 

 

Separately p(x) = 5x^5-3x+7 is degree 5. q(x) = 3x^2-9 is degree 2.

 

p(x)*q(x) is multiplication. All you need is the degree so all you have to do is add the two degrees 5 + 2 = 7.

 

You can multiply the terms with the highest exponents to get the same results since you don't need to simplify,

 

5x^5 * 3x^2 = 15x^7 which is degree 7.

 

You could carry out the multiplication to see that the other terms will have smaller exponents.

 

I'm available for online tutoring if you need it. 

Answer 2

 

The degree is the highest exponent of any of the terms of the expression.

If any of the terms have multiple variables, you would add the exponents of the variables within the term, to find the degree of the term.  The highest degree of the terms is the degree of the expression.

 

The highest degree of terms for the 2 functions is 5x^5 and 3x^2.

when you multiply those you end up with 15x^7

 

Thus the degree of the resulting function is 7