Posted by Esther on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 7:58pm.
-7x^4 + 8x^3 - 8x^2 + 3x-4
The first term in the polynomial, when it is written in decreasing order, is also the term with the biggest exponent, and is called the "leading term".
The exponent on a term tells you the "degree" of the term. For instance, the leading term in the above polynomial is a "fourth-degree term" or "a term of degree four". The second term is a "third degree" term.
The degree of the leading term tells you the degree of the whole polynomial (when written in decreasing order); the polynomial above is a "fourth-degree polynomial".
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/polydefs.htm
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