1. Ch. 6.1 Polynomial Functions
ALGEBRA 2 LESSON 6-1
Ch. 6.1 Polynomial Functions
6-1

2. Degree of a polynomial
Go to chart on page 301

3. The term with the largest degree is x3,so the polynomial is degree 3.
Polynomial Functions
ALGEBRA 2 LESSON 6-1
Write each polynomial in standard form. Then classify it by degree and by number of terms.
a. 9 + x3 b. x3 – 2x2 – 3x4
x3 + 9
–3x4 + x3 – 2x2
The term with the largest
degree is x3,so the polynomial
is degree 3.
The term with the largest
degree is –3x4, so the
polynomial is degree 4.
It has two terms.
The polynomial is a
cubic binomial.
It has three terms.
The polynomial is
a quartic trinomial.
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4. Check understanding
p. 301 # 1 B and C

5. Enter the data. Use the LinReg, QuadReg, and CubicReg
Polynomial Functions
ALGEBRA 2 LESSON 6-1
Using a graphing calculator, determine whether a linear, quadratic, or cubic model best fits the values in the table.
x y
0 2.8
2 5
4 6
6 5.5
8 4
Enter the data. Use the LinReg, QuadReg, and CubicReg
options of a graphing calculator to find the best-fitting model
for each polynomial classification.
Graph each model and compare.
Linear model
Quadratic model
Cubic model
The quadratic model appears to best fit the given values.
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6. Check understanding
Example 2 page 302

7. To find a cubic model, use the CubicReg
Polynomial Functions
ALGEBRA 2 LESSON 6-1
The table shows data on the number of employees that a small company had from 1975 to Find a cubic function to model the data. Use it to estimate the number of employees in Let 0 represent 1975.
Number of
Employees
Year
Enter the data.
To find a cubic model, use the CubicReg
option of a graphing calculator.
Graph the model.
The function ƒ(x) = x3 – 0.375x x is
an approximate model for the cubic function.
To estimate the number of employees for 1988, you can use the Table function
option of a graphing calculator to find that ƒ(13) According to the model,
there were about 62 employees in 1988.
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8. Page 303, Exercises: 1, 5, 9, 25, 29, 31, 33 -55 (EOO), 63, 67
Homework
Page 303, Exercises: 1, 5, 9, 25, 29, 31, (EOO), 63, 67