Question

Arrange the following polynomial into descending order for x, then interpret the degree of the 3rd term. 2xy4 + 2x2y − 3y2 + 10x3

Answer 1

To arrange the given polynomial in descending order of x, we only look at the exponent of x in each term and then write it in decreasing order of the value. We do as follows:

2xy^4 + 2x^2y − 3y^2 + 10x^3
10x^3 + 2x^2 + 2xy^4 - 3y^2

The degree of the third term would be 5. The degree of a term is the sum of the exponents of the variables involved in the term.