How do you find the degree of the polymonials? #1.) x^2y+3x^2-z #2.) 5x^3y+3x^2 thanks...

Question

Can't remember how to find the degrees...I know youare supposed to add the exponents but can't remember if it is of all of them? Thanks..

Answer 1

If you had a normal polynomial like x^3 + 2x + 1, the degree would be 3. Thats because it is the higher exponent that occurs over all terms.
When you have multiple variables, to find the degree you act as if they were all the same - so x^2 y has degree 3, 3x^2 has degree 2, z has degree 1, so overall the degree is 3.
In the second case, x^3y contributes the most (4), so it has degree 4.

edit - just responding to the guy who posted after me, since I don't want you to get confused.
Quoting his source:
Degree: The highest degree of any term in the polynomial.
Degree of term: For a term with one variable, the degree is the variable's exponent. With more than one variable, the degree is the sum of the exponents of the variables.

Thus my answer was correct :)

Answer 2

Actually the degree of a polynomial is the same as the highest degree (exponent) in the polynomial, you do not add the exponents together.


EDIT - The person above me is correct. The "actualy" at the beginning of my answer was not directed at his response. Someone else gave an incorrect answer.

Answer 3

Add the highest exponent of each variable. Both of these are 5th degree polynomials.