Precalculus Examples

$f (x) = x^{3} - 3 x$

Step 1

Identify the exponents on the variables in each term, and add them together to find the degree of each term.

$x^{3} \to 3$

$- 3 x \to 1$

Step 2

The largest exponent is the degree of the polynomial.

$3$

Step 3

The maximum number of possible roots is the degree of $x^{3} - 3 x$ .

$3$