What is the leading coefficient of 2x^3 + 9x^2?

• A. 2
• B. 9
• C. 1
• D. -2

Answer: (A)

The leading coefficient is the coefficient of the term with the highest power of x. In 2x^3 + 9x^2, the highest power is x^3, and its coefficient is 2. So the leading coefficient is 2. The 9x^2 term has a lower degree, so it doesn’t affect the leading coefficient. The leading term also governs end behavior: with a positive, odd-degree leading term, the graph rises to +∞ as x grows and falls to -∞ as x decreases.