The degree of a polynomial is the maximum number of variables
(letters) that are multiplied together in any one term of
the polynomial.
means
and there are two variables (letters), both 's,
which are multiplied together in the first
term "". So the degree is 2.
Since there is only one letter in the polynomial
you merely have to pick out the largest exponent.
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If you had this polynomial
You would think of it as
The longest string of letters multiplied
together is in the middle term which has
this longest string of letters .
That consists of 7 letters multiplied
together, so the degree is 7.
It's easy to see that you don't have to
string the letters out like I did above to
see how many are multiplied together,
you can just add the exponents of the
letters and pick the biggest sum.
Edwin
