Question

Question #467b5

Answer 1

A polynomial is a finite sum of monomials.
Note: things added together are called 'terms'.

A monomial in one variable is a number (also called a constant) times a variable raised to a positive integer power.
(Like `7x^3` or `-3x^5`) The number is called the coefficient of the term.

A sum of finitely many of these is a polynomial (in one variable)

The Standard Format for a polynomial has the term with greatest exponent first, the arranges terms in order of decreasing exponents until the t ermine with no variable (or `x^0`) is reached.

We sometimes specify the set of number to be used.

If we restrict the choice to the integers, we have polynomials with integer coefficients or polynomials over the integers.
If we allow only rational coefficients, we are working with polynomials over the rationals.