Question

How do you find the degree of the polynomial `8x^3y^2-10xy+4x^2y^2+3`?

Answer 1

The degree of this polynomial is `5`.

Explanation:

The degree of a polynomial is equal to the highest degree of any individual term within the polynomial. The degree of a term is found by adding together the exponents of the variable's within the term.

`8x^3y^2` has a degree of `3 + 2 = 5`.

`-10xy` has a degree of `1 + 1 = 2`.

`4x^2y^2` has a degree of `2 + 2 = 4`.

`3` has a degree of `0`, because it has no variable component.

The highest degree of any individual term within this polynomial is `5`, so the degree of the polynomial is also `5`.