What is the degree of the Polynomial 3-4z^4 w^8u^6 7u^9zw^834z4w8u67u9zw8?

1 Answer
Dec 17, 2015

The greatest sum of exponents of each of the terms, namely:

4+8+6+9+1+8=364+8+6+9+1+8=36

Explanation:

This polynomial has two terms (unless there is a missing ++ or - before the 7u^9zw^87u9zw8 as I suspect).

The first term has no variables and is therefore of degree 00.

The second term has degree 4+8+6+9+1+8=364+8+6+9+1+8=36, which being greater than 00 is the degree of the polynomial.

Note that if your polynomial should have been something like:

3-4z^4w^8u^6+7u^9zw^834z4w8u6+7u9zw8

then the degree would be the maximum of the degrees of the terms:

00

4+8+6 = 184+8+6=18

9+1+8 = 189+1+8=18

so the degree of the polynomial would be 1818