Polynomial and Matrix Calculations
Polynomial and Matrix Calculations
CALCULATIONS
POLYNOMIAL
A polynomial is a mathematical expression involving a sum of powers in one or more
variables multiplied by coefficients.
A polynomial in one variable with constant coefficient is given by
Example:
anxn+a2x2+a1x+a0
POLYNOMIAL CAN HAVE:
Constants
Variables
Exponents
coefficients
CONSTANT
A constant is a none varying value, i.e. completely fixed or fixed in context of use.
The term usually occur in opposition to variable which is a symbol that stands for a value
that may vary.
Example:
2x2+11y-22=0, here-22 is a constant.
VARIABLE
A variable is a value that may change within the scope of a given problem or set of
operations .
In contrast a constant is a value that remains unchanged, though often unknown or
undetermined.
Example:
10x2+5y=2, here x and y are variable.
EXPONENTS
Exponents are sometime referred to as power and means the number of time the base is
being multiplied.
In the study of algebra the exponents are used frequently.
Example:
exponent
72
COEFFICIENTS
A coefficient is multiplicative factor in some term of an expression .
It is usually a number, but in many case does not involve any variable of an expression
Example:
7x2 -3xy+15+y
Here 7,-3,1 are the coefficients of x2,xy and y respectively.
DEGREE OF POLYNOMIAL
The degree of a polynomial is the highest degree of a term.
The degree of a term is the sum of the powers of each variable in the term.
The word degree has for some decades been favored in standard books.
In some older books the word order is used.
Example: