A student subtracted two polynomials. They asked a friend to check their solution and work. What should their friend tell them? Are they correct? If they are not correct, in which step did the student make an error?(2x3βˆ’7x2+4x)βˆ’(9xβˆ’5x3+9x2)(2π‘₯3βˆ’7π‘₯2+4π‘₯)βˆ’(9π‘₯βˆ’5π‘₯3+9π‘₯2)Step 1: 2x3βˆ’7x2+4xβˆ’9xβˆ’5x3+9x22π‘₯3βˆ’7π‘₯2+4π‘₯βˆ’9π‘₯βˆ’5π‘₯3+9π‘₯2Step 2: 2x3βˆ’5x3βˆ’7x2+9x2+4xβˆ’9x2π‘₯3βˆ’5π‘₯3βˆ’7π‘₯2+9π‘₯2+4π‘₯βˆ’9π‘₯Step 3: βˆ’3x3+2x2βˆ’5xβˆ’3π‘₯3+2π‘₯2βˆ’5π‘₯Final Answer: βˆ’3x3+2x2βˆ’5xβˆ’3π‘₯3+2π‘₯2βˆ’5π‘₯(1 point)ResponsesThe student is correctThe student is correctThe student is incorrect

1 answer

To determine whether the student is correct, let's look at their work step by step.

  1. Original expression:
    \((2x^3 - 7x^2 + 4x) - (9x - 5x^3 + 9x^2)\)

  2. Step 1:
    Distribute the negative sign correctly:

    \[ 2x^3 - 7x^2 + 4x - 9x + 5x^3 - 9x^2 \]

    This is the correct rearrangement.

  3. Step 2: Combine like terms:

    • For \(x^3\): \(2x^3 + 5x^3 = 7x^3\)
    • For \(x^2\): \(-7x^2 - 9x^2 = -16x^2\)
    • For \(x\): \(4x - 9x = -5x\)

    Correctly combining them, we should have:

    \[ (2x^3 + 5x^3) + (-7x^2 - 9x^2) + (4x - 9x) = 7x^3 - 16x^2 - 5x \]

  4. Step 3: The final answer should be:

    \[ 7x^3 - 16x^2 - 5x \]

The student's final answer was \(-3x^3 + 2x^2 - 5x\). Clearly, there is a discrepancy.

Conclusion: The student is incorrect. They made the error in Step 2 when combining like terms. The correct coefficients, after correctly arranging the terms, should yield \(7x^3 - 16x^2 - 5x\) instead of \(-3x^3 + 2x^2 - 5x\).