Question 134618: how to find the degree of a polynomial
Answer by vleith(2983)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! TIf the polynomial is of a single variable, then the degree of a polynomial is defined as the highest order exponent contained in the polynomial.
So, if you write the polynomial "in the normal way" the highest order power is written as the first term.
If the polynomial contains more than one variable, then the degree is defined as the sum of the exponents with the largest number.
For instance:
4x^3 + 2x^2 + x - 5 -- highest exponent is 3, so the degree is 3
4x^3y^2 + 3x^2y + 3 -- highest is 3+2 = 2
Be careful with polynomials with more than one variable. Sometimes they order them so that the highest degree term may wel not be the 'leftmost one'
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