What is a second degree polynomial?

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Answer 1 · 2015-10-28T14:10:39

A second degree polynomial is a polynomial $P(x)=ax^2+bx+c$ , where $a!=0$

A degree of a polynomial is the highest power of the unknown with nonzero coefficient, so the second degree polynomial is any function in form of:

$P(x)=ax^2+bx+c$ for any $a in RR-{0};b,c in RR$

Examples

$P_1(x)=2x^2-3x+7$ - this is a second degree polynomial

$P_2(x)=3x+7$ - this is not a second degree polynomial (there is no $x^2$ )

$P_3(x)=x^2-1$ - this is a second degree polynomial ( $b$ or $c$ can be zero)

$P_4(x)=x^2-1/x$ - this is not a polynomial ( $x$ is not allowed in the denominator)