how can you find the degree of -5w^3 - 4w^2 + 7w + 16

The degree of a term in an algebraic expression is the exponent of its variable. In this expression, the term with the highest degree is -5w^3. Therefore, the degree of the expression is 3.

To find the degree of a polynomial, you need to determine the highest power of the variable present in the polynomial expression. In this case, the given polynomial is -5w^3 - 4w^2 + 7w + 16.

Step 1: Identify the powers of the variable.
The terms in the polynomial are:
-5w^3, the variable w is raised to the power of 3.
-4w^2, the variable w is raised to the power of 2.
7w, the variable w is raised to the power of 1.
16, in this term, the variable w is not present, so it can be considered as w^0.

Step 2: Determine the highest power.
The highest power in this polynomial is 3, which is the power of w in the term -5w^3.

Therefore, the degree of the polynomial -5w^3 - 4w^2 + 7w + 16 is 3.

To find the degree of a polynomial expression, you need to determine the highest power of the variable in the expression. In this case, the given polynomial expression is:

-5w^3 - 4w^2 + 7w + 16

As you can see, the highest power of "w" is 3, which corresponds to the term -5w^3. Therefore, the degree of the given polynomial expression is 3.