Question

How do you find the degree of the polynomial `2p^2q - 3pq + q^2`?

Answer 1

`2p^2q-3pq+q^2` is of degree `3`

Explanation:

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

The degree of a term is the sum of the exponents of the variables of that term.

`2p^2q = 2p^color(red)(2)q^color(red)(1) rarr " degree " = color(red)(2)+color(red)(1) = 3`

`3pq = 3p^color(red)(1)q^color(red)(1) rarr " degree " = color(red)(1)+color(red)(1) = 2`

`q^2 = q^color(red)(2) rarr " degree " = color(red)(2) = 2`

Highest term has a degree of `3`
`rArr` polynomial is of degree `3`