Question

Give the degree and classify the polynomial by the number of terms. 3s³ +3s

Answer 1

Let's start with classifications:

monomial: there's only one term, so not + or -

    examples: $7x^5$  or  $-9x$

binomial: there are two terms, so only one + or one -

    examples: $7x^5 - 9x$  or  $-3x^2+1$

trinomial: there are three terms

    examples: $7x^5 - 9x^4 + 3$  or  $-8p^3+2x^2-x$

Now the degree of a term is the number of variables multplied on that term.

    example: $7x^3$ is degee three, because$7x^3 = 7\cdot x\cdot x\cdot x$ and there are three x's.

    example: $-8x^2$ really means $-8\cdot x\cdot x$, so that's degree 2.

Finally, the degree of a polynomial (which is what this is asking for) is the degree of the highest degree term.

    example: $7x^5 - 9x$ has a 5th degree term and 1st degree term, so this is a degree 5 polynomial, since that's the greatest.