Summary: Today we started by playing find the difference, find the mistake, and which one doesn’t belong.
We then took notes on the following polynomial vocabulary…
- Polynomial – An expression with no variables in the denominator.
- examples: 2x3-5x+9 or 0.5x-8
- Terms – Expressions starting with + or –
- example: 2x3-5x+9 has three terms
- Exponent – The small number up top.
- example: 2x3 has an exponent of 3
- example: x has an exponent of invisible 1
- Degree of a term – The exponent of the variable of a term.
- example: -⅔x5 has a degree of five.
- example: 83x has a degree of one (invisible)
- example: 94 has a degree of 0 because there is no x.
- Degree of a Polynomial – The largest degree.
- example: 6x2-0.5x+7x6 has a degree of six.
- example: -8x+99 has a degree of one (invisible)
- Standard Form – A polynomial with terms arranged from highest degree to lowest degree.
- example: 2x6+9x2-0.5x
- Coefficient – The number in front of the variable.
- example: 8x3 has a coefficient of eight.
- example: x3 has a coefficient of one (invisible)
- Leading Coefficient – the coefficient of the highest degree term.
- example: 8x4-3x6-0.5x has a leading coefficient of -3.
- Leading Term – The term with the highest degree
- example: 8x4-3x6-0.5x has a leading term of -3x6
- Constant – The degree zero term (just a number)
- example: 8x4-3-0.5x has a constant of -3
Homework: none