| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| polynomial |
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| mathematical expression which is a finite sum, each term being a constant times a product of one or more variables raised to powers. With only one variable the general form of a polynomial is a0xn+a1xn-1+a2xn-2+…+an-1x+an where n is a positive integer and a0, a1, a2, … , an are any numbers. An example of a polynomial in one variable is 11x4-3x3+7x2+x-8. The degree of a polynomial in one variable is the highest power of the variable appearing with a nonzero coefficient; in the example given above, the degree is 4. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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