Addition and Subtraction of Polynomials

Question

Given the polynomial, identify the coefficients and degree of each term:

2x^3−5−2x^4+4x−3x^2



First term:	degree=	coefficient =
Second term:	degree=	coefficient =
Third term:	degree=	coefficient =
Fourth term:	degree=	coefficient =
Fifth term:	degree=	coefficient =

What is the leading coefficient? 

What is the degree of the leading term? 

What is the degree of the polynomial? 

Answer 1

This type of question is often paired with a question asking you to provide the polynomial in standard form.

Standard form arranges the polynomial with terms ordered by the degree of each term , from largest to smallest.

So, for this problem, the standard form is

-2x^4 + 2x^3 - 3x^2 + 4x - 5

Answer 2

2x^3−5−2x^4+4x−3x^2



First term:	degree=3	coefficient =2
Second term:	degree=0	coefficient =-5
Third term:	degree=4	coefficient =-2
Fourth term:	degree=1	coefficient =4
Fifth term:	degree=2	coefficient =-3

The leading term is the one with the highest exponent. In this case, 4 is the highest.

What is the leading coefficient? -2

What is the degree of the leading term? 4

What is the degree of the polynomial? 4th (Because this is the degree of the leading term)