How do you find the degree of #P(x) = x^3(x+2)(x-3)^2 #?

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Answer 1 · 2018-05-07T09:54:27

#P(x)# has degree 6

#P(x) = x^3(x+2)(x-3)^2#

The degree of a polynomial is highest degree of its individual terms.

In this example we could expand #P(x)# into its individual terms but in this case that is unnecessary.

Consider the highest degree of each of the factors of #P(x)#.

#x^3# has degree 3

#(x+2)# has highest degree 1

#(x-3)^2# has highest degree 2

Hence the degree of #P(x) = 3+1+2 = 6#