How many terms are in the expression shown below?

x2 - 10xy + 3y + y2 - 1

2

3

4

5

The correct answer is 5.

Step-by-step explanation:

When solving a mathematical operation, the correct thing is to separate in terms so as not to obtain an erroneous result.

The only signs that separate terms are addition and subtraction. You cannot separate a term in a division or multiplication.

If you had operation 6 + 4: 2 + 1 =

The right thing would be for you to separate in terms of addition. Look at the result:

6 + 2 + 1 = 9

And see what would have happened if we separated it in the division:

10: 2 + 1 =

5 + 1 = 6

The results obtained are different. Therefore, if we obtained 6, the operation would be wrong.

Now, we have the following expression:

x2 - 10xy + 3y + y2 - 1

And we must remember that between each incognita and a number there is a sign of multiplication, although we do not see it written.

Therefore, the correct terms would be the following:

x2

-10xy

3y

y2

-1

Given this information, we can say that the number of terms in this expression is 5.

Terms are the different things being added/subtracted. There are 5 terms.