POLYNOMIAL FUNCTION

A polynomial function is a function that involves only non-negative integer powers or

only positive integer exponents of a variable in an equation like the quadratic equation,
cubic equation, etc. For example, 2x+5 is a polynomial that has exponent equal to 1.
Study Mathematics at BYJU’S in a simpler and exciting way here.
A polynomial function, in general, is also stated as a polynomial or polynomial
expression, defined by its degree. The degree of any polynomial is the highest power
present in it. In this article, you will learn polynomial function along with its expression
and graphical representation of zero degrees, one degree, two degrees and higher
degree polynomials.
Polynomial Function Definition
A polynomial function is a function that can be expressed in the form of a polynomial.
The definition can be derived from the definition of a polynomial equation. A polynomial
is generally represented as P(x). The highest power of the variable of P(x) is known as
its degree. Degree of a polynomial function is very important as it tells us about the
behaviour of the function P(x) when x becomes very large. The domain of a polynomial
function is entire real numbers (R).

If P(x) = an xn + an-1 xn-1+.……….…+a2 x2 + a1 x + a0, then for x ≫ 0 or x ≪ 0, P(x) ≈ an xn.

Thus, polynomial functions approach power functions for very large values of their
variables.

Polynomial Function Examples

A polynomial function has only positive integers as exponents. We can even perform
different types of arithmetic operations for such functions like addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division.

Some of the examples of polynomial functions are here:

x2+2x+1
3x-7
7x3+x2-2
All three expressions above are polynomial since all of the variables have positive
integer exponents. But expressions like;

5x-1+1
4x1/2+3x+1
(9x +1) ÷ (x)
are not polynomials, we cannot consider negative integer exponents or fraction
exponent or division here.
Types of Polynomial Functions
There are various types of polynomial functions based on the degree of the
polynomial. The most common types are:

Constant Polynomial Function: P(x) = a = ax0

Zero Polynomial Function: P(x) = 0; where all ai’s are zero, i = 0, 1, 2, 3, …, n.
Linear Polynomial Function: P(x) = ax + b
Quadratic Polynomial Function: P(x) = ax2+bx+c
Cubic Polynomial Function: ax3+bx2+cx+d
Quartic Polynomial Function: ax4+bx3+cx2+dx+e
The details of these polynomial functions along with their graphs are explained below.

Graphs of Polynomial Functions

The graph of P(x) depends upon its degree. A polynomial having one variable which
has the largest exponent is called a degree of the polynomial.

Let us look at P(x) with different degrees.

Constant Polynomial Function

Degree 0 (Constant Functions)

Standard form: P(x) = a = a.x0, where a is a constant.

Graph: A horizontal line indicates that the output of the function is constant. It doesn’t
depend on the input.
E.g. y = 4, (see Figure 1)

Figure 1
Zero Polynomial Function
A constant polynomial function whose value is zero. In other words, zero polynomial
function maps every real number to zero, f: R → {0} defined by f(x) = 0 ∀ x ∈ R. For
example, let f be an additive inverse function, that is, f(x) = x + ( – x) is zero polynomial
function.
Linear Polynomial Functions
Degree 1, Linear Functions
Standard form: P(x) = ax + b, where a and b are constants. It forms a straight line.
Graph: Linear functions have one dependent variable and one independent which are x
and y, respectively.
In the standard formula for degree 1, a represents the slope of a line, the constant b
represents the y-intercept of a line.
E.g., y = 2x+3(see Figure 2)
here a = 2 and b = 3

Figure 2
Quadratic Polynomial Functions
Degree 2, Quadratic Functions

Standard form: P(x) = ax2+bx+c , where a, b and c are constant.

Graph: A parabola is a curve with one extreme point called the vertex. A parabola is a
mirror-symmetric curve where any point is at an equal distance from a fixed point
known as Focus.
In the standard form, the constant ‘a’ represents the wideness of the parabola. As ‘a’
decreases, the wideness of the parabola increases. This can be visualized by
considering the boundary case when a=0, the parabola becomes a straight line. The
constant c represents the y-intercept of the parabola. The vertex of the parabola is
given by

(h,k) = (-b/2a, -D/4a)

where D is the discriminant and is equal to (b2-4ac).

Note: Whether the parabola is facing upwards or downwards, depends on the nature
of a.

If a > 0, the parabola faces upward.

If a < 0, the parabola faces downwards.
E.g. y = x2+2x-3 (shown in black color)

y = -x2-2x+3 (shown in blue color)

(See Figure 3)

Figure 3: y = x2+2x-3 (black) and

y = x2-2x+3 (blue)
Graphs of Higher Degree Polynomial Functions
Standard form– P(x) = an xn + an-1 xn-1+.……….…+ a0, where a0,a1,………,an are all
constants.
Graph: Depends on the degree, if P(x) has degree n, then any straight line can
intersect it at a maximum of n points. The constant term in the polynomial
expression, i.e. a0 here represents the y-intercept.
E.g. y = x4-2x2+x-2, any straight line can intersect it at a maximum of 4 points (see
fig. 4)

Figure 4
Cubic polynomial function
When you graph cubic polynomials, some interesting things happen. When solving
quadratics, there were some cases when there was no factor for the quadratic. One
example is
x2+3x+5
. Unlike quadratics, cubic have at least one factor. In graphing you can see this
clearly because it will cross the
x
-axis at least once. These factors are called roots or zeros of the polynomial. The
root or the zero is the point where the graph crosses the
x
-axis so the root is
(x,0)
. In the graph below you can see one of the roots (zeros) at the point (–3, 0).

Figure 5

The point where the graph changes from increasing to decreasing is called the
turning point. In the graph above there are two turning points. A cubic polynomial
can have zero or two turning points. If the turning point changes from increasing to
decreasing it is called a maximum point. If the turning point changes from
decreasing to increasing it is called a minimum point. Another interesting feature of
cubic graphs is that if the number in front of the
x3
is positive, the graph will start low on the left because as
x
gets large and negative so does
x3
. Think about it. Look at the table below.
x
x3
–2 –8
–4 –64
–6 –216
–8 –512
–10 –1000
In the table, you can see that as
x
gets more negative (number gets larger with a negative sign), the value of
x3
also gets large and negative. So the graph starts down low and rises up. The reverse
is true when the number in front of
x3
is negative. Also, in the graph shown above there are three times when the curve
crosses the
x
-axis, representing three roots. A cubic
(x3)
can have as many as three roots and as few as one.