Determine whether the following function is a polynomial function. If the function is a polynomial function, state its degree. If it is not, tell why not. Write the polynomial in
standard form. Then identify the leading term and the constant term.

To determine if is a polynomial function, let’s analyze its components. A polynomial function is defined as a sum of terms where each term consists of a constant multiplied by a non-negative integer power of the variable. The term can be rewritten as , which has a negative exponent. Since this violates the definition of a polynomial, is not a polynomial function.

In this case, the leading term and constant term cannot be identified for the polynomial function because the function itself does not qualify as a polynomial. For a function to be classified as polynomial, all exponents must be whole numbers, and any terms with negative exponents are excluded from the polynomial category.