There are two ways to classify polynomials: by degree and by number of terms. The degree refers to the highest exponent in the polynomial, such as a quadratic (x^2) being second degree. Classification by terms refers to the number of terms in the polynomial, such as a monomial having one term, a binomial having two terms, and so on. Examples are provided to demonstrate classifying polynomials by both degree and number of terms.

1. Top of FormBy Degree or By TermsWe talked about this last year...how to classify a polynomial. Before you classify a polynomial, you must make sure that it is in standard form. Standard form is when the expression is written in descending order from the highest exponent to the lowest exponent in numerical order.Once it's in standard form, there are two ways that you can classify a polynomial: by degree and by number of terms. The degree of a polynomial is the largest exponent that is in the expression. So a parabola would be a 2nd degree equation because x-squared is the highest exponent. If you are classifying by the number of terms, you can either have a monomial (one term), binomial (two terms), trinomial (three terms), or just polynomial (4 or more terms). Examples....Classify each PolynomialPolyClassified by DegreeClassified by Number of Termsx + 61st degreeBinomialx3 + x - 63rd degreeTrinomialx5 + x3 - 2x + 95th degreePolynomialBottom of Form<br />