Question

find the number of terms for this polynomial.
$-18x^9 - 18x^8 - 19x^5$
show your work here

Explanation:

Step1: Define a term in a polynomial

A term in a polynomial is a single mathematical expression that is part of a sum (or difference, which is a sum of negatives). Terms are separated by addition or subtraction signs.

Step2: Identify terms in the given polynomial

The given polynomial is \(-18x^{9}-18x^{8}-19x^{5}\). Let's identify each term:

• The first term is \(-18x^{9}\) (separated by the first subtraction sign, but since subtraction is adding a negative, it's a term).
• The second term is \(-18x^{8}\) (separated by the second subtraction sign).
• The third term is \(-19x^{5}\) (the last term in the sum of these three expressions).

So we can count the number of terms by looking at how many expressions are separated by addition or subtraction. Here we have three expressions separated by subtraction (which is equivalent to addition of negative terms).

Answer:

3