Monomials, Binomials, and Polynomials

	A monomial is a constant, a variable, or the product of a constant and one or more variables.
	A polynomial is the sum of one or more monomials.

 

"... this means that a monomial is a single term which has NO plus sign (+) or minus sign (-) between entries.  It could be things like  13, 3x, -57, x², 4y², -2xy, or  520x²y²   but NOT (2x+7) or (4x²-2x)." "A polynomial can be one monomial or a bunch of monomials hooked together with plus signs and/or minus signs."

 

Name	Number of Terms	Example
Monomial	1 (mono implies one)	4x²
Binomial	2(bi implies two)	4x² + 3x
Trinomial	3(tri implies three)	4x² + 3x + 5

             


The expression 
4x² is a monomial because it has one term.

The expression
4x² + 3x is a
binomial
because it has two terms.

The expression  4x² +3x + 5 is
a trinomial
because it has three terms.                                                                           

All three
expressions can be
called polynomials.