Precalculus Examples

$p (x) = 3 x^{4} - 11 x^{3} - 3 x^{2} - 6 x + 8$

Step 1

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

$3 x^{4} \to 4$

$- 11 x^{3} \to 3$

$- 3 x^{2} \to 2$

$- 6 x \to 1$

$8 \to 0$

Step 2

The largest exponent is the degree of the polynomial.

$4$

Step 3

The maximum number of possible roots is the degree of $3 x^{4} - 11 x^{3} - 3 x^{2} - 6 x + 8$ .

$4$