Consider the quadratic function.

f (p) = p2 - 8p - 5

What are the values of the coefficients and the constant in the function?

a = - 1, b = - 8, c = - 5

a = 1, b = - 5, c = - 8

a = 1, b = - 8, c = - 5

a = - 1, b = - 5, c = 8

Quadratic equations can be generally expressed as,

ax² + bx + c = 0

where a and b are the numerical coefficients of the leading term and second term, respectively. c is the constant. From the given equation, a = 1, b = - 8, and c = - 5. Thus, the answer is the third among the choices.