Author : Mélissa
education : level secondary 4

I'd like to know what is a polynomial( the definition and an explication)? And is 7x a polynomial? and why?



Hi Mélissa,

First a couple of examples.

4 x 2 + 3 x - 9,

7 x - 5 and

x 3 - 5x 2 + 2 are polynomials but sin x and

 x + 3/x are not polynomials.

Definition:

A polynomial is a function that can b written

an xn + an-1 xn-1 + ... + a2 x2 + a1 x + a0

Where n is an integer and an, an-1,...,a0 are numbers.

For example if n = 1, a1 = 7 and a0 = 0 then you get the expression 7x, so 7x is a polynomial.

I hope this helps,
Penny

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