Question

Given that the polynomial f(x) has degree 8, which of the following most accurately describes the number of turning points of f(x)?

Answer 1

You cannot answer this question with the information supplied.
The x intercepts are the roots of the polynomial f(x) = 0.
The fundamental theorem of algebra says that the number of roots of this equation is 9, but not necessarily all of them are real; therefore the MAXIMUM number of x intercepts is 9.
However, since f(x) is of odd degree it must have at least one real root; therefore, the MINIMUM number of x intercepts is 1.