Pearson Algebra 2 Common Core, 2011
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Pearson Algebra 2 Common Core, 2011 View details
End-of-Course Assessment

Exercise 17 Page 966

Pay close attention to the leading coefficient and the degree of the polynomial.

A

Practice makes perfect

We want to determine the end behavior of the graph of the given polynomial function. To do so, we will pay close attention to the leading term ax^n, where a is the leading coefficient and n is the degree of the polynomial. Let's consider the given polynomial function. Note that it is already written in standard form. y= - 2x^4+8x^3+4x^2-3 We can see above that the leading coefficient is - 2 and the degree is 4. Let's now see how the leading coefficient and degree affect the end behavior of the graph of a polynomial function.

Since - 2<0 and 4 is an even number, the end behavior of the given function is down and down. This corresponds to option A.