Question

What are coefficients?

Answer 1

Coefficients are the numbers in front of variables.

Example:

In the term `2x`, 2 is the coefficient
In `4x^5`, the coefficient is the number 4
In the case where the term is given as a single letter, for example, `y`, the coefficient of the unknown is 1.

Let's take a more complex term, for example the quadratic equation

`x^2 +`9x + 20

the coefficient would be 9, and the solution would be:

(`x + 4)(`x + 5)

as the two numbers 4 and 5 add to get the first number, in this case, 9, and multiply to give the second term, in this case, 20.