Characteristics

Classifications

Degrees

Polynomials are also classified by the degree of the largest exponent as follows:


Classifying by Degree

Polynomials with larger degrees are named by the number of the degree:

6x5 Fifth degree

-x6 Sixth degree, etc.

Example: Give the degree of the following polynomial: 2x5 - 5x3 - 10x + 9

This polynomial has four terms, including a fifth-degree term, a third-degree term, a first-degree term, and a constant term.
This is a fifth-degree polynomial.