Question

Arrange the following polynomial into descending order for x, then interpret the degree of the 2nd term.

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

The order is -11x⁵y² + 7x³y³ - 3x²y + 4; and the degree is 6.

Explanation:

To order them by x, we look at the powers of x.  In the original polynomial, the power of x in the first term is 3, the power of x in the second term is 0, the power of x in the third term is 5, and the power of x in the last term is 2.  Arranging them, we want 5, 3, 2 and 0.  This explains the order.

The second term of the ordered polynomial is 7x³y³.  The degree is found by adding the exponents of the variables in the problem; this gives us 3+3 = 6.