The coefficient of the product would be your number when they're multiplied together, so we should start by multiplying them, [tex](-5xy^{2} )(-4 x^{2} y)=(-5*-4)(x*x^2)(y^2*y)=20x^3y^3[/tex]. Now, our only number (not including the exponents) is 20, so that is our coefficient. Our exponent of both the x and y in the product is 3 seeing as [tex](x*x^2)[\tex] and [tex](y^2*y)[\tex] equal [tex]x^3[\tex] and [tex]y^3[\tex] respectively.
