1983 AHSME Problems/Problem 6

Problem 6

When $x^5, x+\frac{1}{x}$ and $1+\frac{2}{x} + \frac{3}{x^2}$ are multiplied, the product is a polynomial of degree.

$\textbf{(A)}\ 2\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 3\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 6\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 7\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 8$

Solution

We have $x^5\left(x+\frac{1}{x}\right)\left(1+\frac{2}{x}+\frac{3}{x^2}\right) = (x^6+x^4)\left(1+\frac{2}{x}+\frac{3}{x^2}\right) = x^6 + \text{lower order terms}$ , where we know that the $x^6$ will not get cancelled out by e.g. a $-x^6$ term since all the terms inside the brackets are positive. Thus the degree is $6$ , which is choice $\boxed{\textbf{(C)}}$ .

1983 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 5	Followed by Problem 7
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1983 AHSME Problems/Problem 6

Problem 6

Solution

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