Steps
Combine like terms. ...
Drop all of the constants and coefficients. ...
Put the terms in decreasing order of their exponents. ...
Find the power of the largest term. ...
Identify this number as the degree of the polynomial. ...
Know that the degree of a constant is zero.
How many degrees does a polynomial have?
In the following three examples, one can see how these polynomial degrees are determined based on the terms in an equation: y = x (Degree: 1; Only one solution) y = x2 (Degree: 2; Two possible solutions) y = x3 (Degree: 3; Three possible solutions)
