Degree (mathematics)

The degree of a polynomial  is the highest exponent that occurs inside that polynomial. It is represented by the symbol . 

For example, if we look at the polynomial , then we can see that the degree of this polynomial is , because the highest power in the variable  is . It occurs in the term .

The name of the variable is not important. For example, the polynomial  has degree , because the highest power of the variable, in this case , is , which occurs in the term . Polynomials with more than one variable add up the power of each variable in a term to determine the degree: for example,  is a term of degree 6.

 Related pages 
 Fundamental theorem of algebra, a theorem which states that a polynomial of degree  has  complex roots.

 References 

Category:Algebra
Category:Mathematics