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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from Nichole, a student: How do I determine the degree of polynomials? I've searched this on sites but they are |
You are correct about the meaning of ^. x^2 and x² mean the same.
The degree of a term (product of variables and their powers) is the sum of its exponents (including "1" for any variable without an explicit exponent.) Constants have no effect. So the terms $x^5, 7x^4y$, and $(1/2)xy^3z$ all have degree 5. A constant term has degree 0.
The degree of a polynomial is the degree of its highest-degree term. So $x^4 + 2wxy^2z$ has degree 5.
Good Hunting!
RD
Nichole,
You need o be sure to simplify an expression before determining its degree. For example the polynomial $4x^3 + 5x^2 - 3x^3 + 7 - x^3$ has degree 2 since simplified is is $5x^2 + 7.$
Harley
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