Degree of a Polynomial
The degree of a monomial is the sum of the exponents of all its variables.
Example 1:
The degree of the monomial is .
Example 2:
The degree of the monomial is (since the power of is ).
Example 3:
The degree of the monomial is (constants have degree ).
The
degree of a
polynomial
is the greatest of the degrees of its terms (after it has been simplified.)
Example 4:
The degree of the polynomial
is .
(since the polynomial can be simplified to , in which the term with the highest power of is ).
Example 5:
The degree of the polynomial
is 4
(since the term has degree .)