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submitted 4 months ago by sjmarf@sh.itjust.works to c/mathmemes

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[-] LostXOR@fedia.io 48 points 4 months ago

Fun fact, omitting the (x-x) zero term and expanding the entire polynomial, you'd get something with 2^25 = 33,554,432 terms. May be slightly excessive!

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 months ago

Couldn't you combine a lot of like terms as you went along, though? A polynomial of the order x^26^ would only have 27 terms.

[-] LostXOR@fedia.io 2 points 4 months ago

No, because each coefficient is its own variable; they're not constants.

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Huh, I'm so used to polynomials being in the form ax^2 + bx + c that I never considered that every letter might be a variable.

[-] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 points 4 months ago

because each coefficient

There's only 1 coefficient - in this case it's (a-x) - the rest are just factors.

they’re not constants

They could be - we haven't been given that information.

[-] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 2 points 4 months ago

33,554,432 terms

Actually it would be that many factors. The whole thing is a single Term.

this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2024

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