What is #3x^4-5x^2+4x-1/x^2+1#?

what is #3x^4-5x^2+4x-1/x^2+1#?

1 Answer
Aug 5, 2018

That depends on the context of the question.

Explanation:

On its own, it's just an expression in terms of #x#.

If you were to ask, what's the value of this expression when #x# equals some number, then we could replace all the #x"'s"# with that number and simplify the expression to a single value.

For instance, when #x = 2#, we would get

#3(2)^4 - 5(2)^2 +4(2) - 1/(2)^2+1#

#=3(16) - 5(4) + 8 - 1/4 + 1#

#= 48 - 20 + 8 - 1/4 + 1#

#= 36 3/4#