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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 7 y 3 z 2 is 5 ( = 3 + 2 ) .

Example 2:

The degree of the monomial 7 x is 1 (since the power of x is 1 ).

Example 3:

The degree of the monomial 66 is 0 (constants have degree 0 ).

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

x 7 + 2 x 3 + 6 x x 7 is 3 .

(since the polynomial can be simplified to 2 x 3 + 6 x , in which the term with the highest power of x is 2 x 3 ).

Example 5:

The degree of the polynomial

x y z + x y 3 + 99 x 2 is 4

(since the term x y 3 has degree 1 + 3 = 4 .)