According to the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, a polynomial of degree \( n \) has exactly \( n \) roots, counting multiplicities. In the case of the polynomial equation with the term \( 8x^5 \), the degree of the polynomial is 5.
Based on this information, the correct statement is:
The equation has at least 5 roots.
This statement is true because a polynomial of degree 5 must have exactly 5 roots (which may include complex roots and multiplicities, but it must have 5 roots in total).
The other statements are not necessarily true:
- The equation does not have more than 5 roots; it has exactly 5.
- The statement about having an odd number of real roots is not guaranteed; there could be complex roots.
- Not all roots must be real; it can have complex roots as well.
So, the answer you should select is:
The equation has at least 5 roots.