Write the polynomial in standard form. Then name the polynomial based on its degree and number of terms.
To write a polynomial in standard form, we arrange the terms in descending order according to the degree of each term.
For example, let's say we have the polynomial:
5x^4 - 2x^3 + 7x^2 - 3x + 9
To rearrange this polynomial in standard form, we write it as:
5x^4 - 2x^3 + 7x^2 - 3x + 9
Note that the degree of each term decreases from left to right.
Based on the degree and number of terms in the polynomial, we can classify it as follows:
Degree: The degree of a polynomial is determined by the highest power of the variable in the polynomial. In this case, the highest power of x is 4, so the degree of this polynomial is 4.
Number of terms: The number of terms is the total count of separate expressions in a polynomial. In this case, there are 5 separate expressions, so the number of terms in this polynomial is 5.
Hence, the given polynomial has a degree of 4 and consists of 5 terms.