Asked by Wolf Haley

Which is true about the degree of the sum and difference of the polynomials 3x5y – 2x3y4 – 7xy3 and –8x5y + 2x3y4 + xy3?

A. Both the sum and difference have a degree of 6.
B. Both the sum and difference have a degree of 7.
C. The sum has a degree of 6, but the difference has a degree of 7.
D. The sum has a degree of 7, but the difference has a degree of 6.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
C.

Sum: (3x^5y − 2x^3y^4 − 7xy^3) + (−8x^5y + 2x^3y^4 + xy^3)
= −5x^5y − 6xy^3, highest degree = 5+1 = 6.

Difference: (3x^5y − 2x^3y^4 − 7xy^3) − (−8x^5y + 2x^3y^4 + xy^3)
= 11x^5y − 4x^3y^4 − 8xy^3, highest degree = 3+4 = 7.