Which monomial function, y = axn, is described by the following statements?As x > 0 increases, f(x) decreases. As x < 0 decreases, f(x) decreases.

For positive x, an even power xⁿ increases as x increases, so a must be negative for y = axⁿ to decrease. For negative x, decreasing x means moving farther from zero, so the even power xⁿ increases; multiplying by a negative coefficient makes y decrease. Therefore the function is an even monomial with negative a.

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