CHARACTERISTICS OF POLYNOMIAL FUNCTIONS

1. TERMINOLOGY
What do you think polynomial means?

Let’s break down the word: poly- and –nomial. What does “poly” mean?

a. A monomial is a numeral, variable, or the product of a numeral and one or more variables.
For example: -1, ½, 3x, 2xy. Give a few examples of other monomials:

b. What is a constant? Give a few examples:

c. A coefficient is the numerical factor of a monomial or the ___________ in front of the variable in a
monomial.
d. Give some examples of monomials and their coefficients:

e. The degree of a monomial is the sum of the exponents of its variables.

has degree 4. Why?

What are the degrees of the monomials you created in part d?

A polynomial function is defined as a function, ,

where the coefficients are real numbers.

The degree of a polynomial (n) is equal to the greatest exponent of its variable.

The coefficient of the variable with the greatest exponent ( ) is called the leading coefficient. For
example, is a third degree polynomial with a leading coefficient of 4.

2. EXPLORING POLYNOMIALS
Previously, you have learned about linear functions, which are first degree polynomial functions,
, where is the slope of the line and is the y-intercept (Recall: y=mx+b; here m is replaced
by and b is replaced by .)

Also, you have learned about quadratic functions, which are 2nd degree polynomial functions, which can be
expressed as . You probably remember seeing it as . A cubic function is
a third degree polynomial function. There are also fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. degree polynomial functions.

a. To get an idea of what these functions look like, we can graph the first through fifth degree polynomials
with leading coefficients of 1. For each, polynomial function, make a table of 6 points and then plot
them so that you can determine the shape of the graph. Choose points that are both positive and negative

1
 so that you can get a good idea of the shape of the graph. Also, include the x intercept as one of your
points.

For example, for the first order polynomial function: . You may have the following table and graph:

x y
-3 -3
-1 -1
0 0
2 2
5 5
10 10

b. Compare these five graphs. By looking at the graphs, describe in your own words how is
different from . Also, how is different from ?

c. Note any other observations you make when you compare these graphs.

3. CLASSIFYING POLYNOMIALS
In this unit, we are going to discover different characteristics of polynomial functions by looking at patterns in
their behavior. Polynomials can be classified by the number of monomials, or terms, as well as by the degree
of the polynomial. The degree of the polynomial is the same as the term with the highest degree. Complete
the following chart. Make up your own expression for the last row.

Example Degree Name No. of terms Name

2 Constant Monomial
2
2x  3 Quadratic Binomial
 x3 Cubic
x 4  3x 2 Quartic
3x5  4 x  2 Quintic Trinomial

2
Handout of Graphs of Polynomial Functions : Each of these equations can be re-expressed as a product of linear
factors by factoring the equations, as shown below in gray.

1. ; 2. ;

3. ; 4. ;

5. ; 6. ;

7. ; 8.

3
a. Using the graph of j(x), list its x-intercepts. How are these intercepts related to the linear factors?

b. Why might it be useful to know the linear factors of a polynomial function?

c. Although we will not factor higher order polynomial functions in this unit, you have factored quadratic
functions in Math 11. For review, factor the following second degree polynomials, or quadratics.

1.

2.
3.
d. Using these factors, find the roots (a.k.a the x-intercepts) of these three equations.

e. Sketch a graph of the three quadratic equations above without using your calculator and then use your
calculator to check your graphs.

f. Although you will not need to be able to find all of the roots of higher order polynomials until a later unit,
using what you already know, you can factor some polynomial equations and find their roots in a similar
way.

Try this one:

What are the roots of this fifth order polynomial function?

g. How many roots are there?

Why is it there are not five roots since this is is a fifth degree polynomial?

h. Check the roots by generating a graph of this equation using your calculator.

i. With other polynomial functions, we will not be able to draw upon our knowledge of factoring quadratic
functions. For example, you may not be able to factor , but could still find its zeros by
graphing it in your calculator. What are the zeros of this polynomial function?

4
4. SYMMETRY
The first characteristic of these 8 polynomials functions we will consider is symmetry.
a. Sketch a function you have seen before that has symmetry about the y-axis.

Describe in your own words what it means to have symmetry about the y-axis.

What is do we call a function that has symmetry about the y-axis?

b. Sketch a function you have seen before that has symmetry about the origin.

Describe in your own words what it means to have symmetry about the origin.

What do we call a function that has symmetry about the origin?

c. Using the table below and your handout of the following eight polynomial functions, classify the functions
by their symmetry.

Function
Symmetry Symmetry Even,
about the about the Odd, or
y axis? origin? Neither?

5
 d. Why don’t we talk about functions that have symmetry about the x-axis? If you sketch a graph that has
symmetry about the x-axis, then what do you notice?

5. DOMAIN AND RANGE

Another characteristic of functions that you have studied is domain and range. For each polynomial function,
determine the domain and range.
Function Domain Range

6. ZEROS
a. We can also describe the functions by determining some points on the functions. We can find the x-
intercepts for each function as we discussed before. Under the column labeled “x-intercepts” write the
ordered pairs (x,y) of each intercept and record the number of intercepts in the next column. Also record
the degree of the polynomial.

Function Degree x-intercepts Zeros # of Zeros

b. These x-intercepts are called the zeros of the polynomial functions. Why do you think they have this
name?

c. Fill in the column labeled “Zeroes” by writing the zeroes that correspond to the x-intercepts of each
polynomial function, and also record the number of zeroes each function has.
6
 d. Make a conjecture about the relationship of degree of the polynomial and number of zeroes.

e. Test your conjecture by graphing the following polynomial functions using your calculator:
, , .

Function Degree x-intercepts Zeroes # of Zeroes

How are these functions different from the previous functions in the table?

Does this prove or disprove your conjecture about the relationship of the degree of the polynomial and the
number of x-intercepts?

Make a conjecture for the maximum number of x-intercepts the following polynomial function will have:

7. END BEHAVIOR
In determining the range of the polynomial functions, you had to consider the end behavior of the functions,
that is the value of as x approaches infinity and negative infinity.

Polynomials exhibit patterns of end behavior that are helpful in sketching them.

a. Graph the following on your calculator. On a separate sheet of paper, make a rough sketch next to each one
and answer the following:
 Is the degree even or odd?
 Is the leading coefficient, the coefficient on the term of highest degree, positive or negative?
 Does the graph rise or fall on the left? On the right?

1. y  x 7. y  x 2
2. y  x 2 8. y  3 x 4
3. y  3x 9. y  x 3
7
 4. y 5 x 4 10. y  2 x 5
6
5. y  x3 11. y  3 x
6. y 2 x 5 12. y 7 x 3

b. Write a conjecture about the end behavior, whether it rises or falls at the ends, of a function of the form
for each pair of conditions below. Then test your conjectures on some of the 8 polynomial
functions graphed before on your handout.

Condition a: When n is even and a > 0,

Condition b: When n is even and a < 0,

Condition c: When n is odd and a > 0,

Condition d: When n is odd and a < 0,

c. Which of the graphs from part (a) have an absolute maximum?

Which have an absolute minimum?
What do you notice about the degree of these functions?

d. Can you ever have an absolute maximum AND an absolute minimum in the same function? If so, sketch a
graph with both. If not, why not?

e. Based on your conjectures in part (b), sketch a fourth degree

polynomial function with a negative leading coefficient.

f. Now sketch a fifth degree polynomial with a positive leading

coefficient.

8
 g. Note that we can sketch the graph with the end behavior but we cannot determine where and how the graph
behaves without an equation or without the zeros.

If we are given the real zeros of a polynomial function, we can combine what we know about end behavior
to make a rough sketch of the function.

Sketch the graph of the following functions using what you know about end behavior and zeros:
a) b)

8. CRITICAL POINTS
a. Other points of interest may also be where the graph begins or ends increasing or decreasing.

For each graph, locate the turning points and the related intervals of increase and decrease, as you have
determined previously for linear and quadratic polynomial functions. Then record which turning points are
relative minimum and relative maximum values.

Function Degree Turning Intervals of Intervals of Relative Relative

Points Increase Decrease Minimum Maximum

9
b. Make a conjecture about the relationship of the degree of the polynomial and the number of turning points
that the polynomial has. Recall that this is the maximum number of turning points a polynomial of this
degree can have because these graphs are examples in which all zeros have a multiplicity of one.

These characteristics of polynomial function will be used through this unit to describe and sketch graphs of
polynomial functions.

10