Foundations

"Poly" means many and "nomial" means terms so the definition of a polynomial is the sum of many terms. The terms are raised to non-negative powers or exponents and the coefficients are real numbers. Linear and quadratic functions are both polynomial functions. In this section, you will learn about graphing other polynomial functions.

Polynomials can be written in standard or factored form. Factored form will be covered in a later section. This section will concentrate on graphing standard forms.

You will be graphing polynomials on a calculator until you learn more about the characteristics of polynomial graphs. In order to graph the polynomial f(x) = 3x³ - 4x² + 2x + 1 on a TI83/84 calculator, use the following instructions:

Access the graph menu by pressing and then enter the function. To type the variable, use the variable key .

When the polynomial has radical coefficients, the parentheses must be closed before the variable is entered. Failure to do so will result in an incorrect graph. For example, y = x² - x must be entered as