The Solution:
Given the expression below:
[tex]-x+8x^2-9[/tex]We are asked to determine the degree and the leading coefficient of the above polynomial.
The degree of the polynomial is the highest power of the independent variable.
[tex]\begin{gathered} -x+8x^2-9 \\ \text{ which can also be written as:} \\ 8x^2-x-9 \end{gathered}[/tex]So,
The degree of the polynomial is 2.
The leading coefficient of the polynomial is the coefficient of the term with the highest power.
So,
The leading coefficient is 8.
