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what is the difference between zero polynomial and zero of polynomial

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Solution


A “zero of a polynomial” is a value (a number) at which the polynomial evaluates to zero. For example, the polynomial x^2–3x+2 has 1 and 2 as its zeros.

The zeros of a polynomial are commonly called its “roots”. Every polynomial has its own multiset (an unordered list) of zeros. In fact, a polynomial is uniquely defined by its zeros, up to scaling by a constant value.


The “zero polynomial” is a specific polynomial, written 0. All its coefficients are zero, and treated as a function it’s a constant function. We could write this polynomial as 0+0x+0x^2+0x^3+…0
to emphasize that it is a polynomial, but it’s a little strange because its degree is undefined. (The constant 1 is also a polynomial, but it has degree zero— a “zero-degree polynomial” and the “zero polynomial” are different.)

The “zeros of the zero polynomial” are all numbers, since substituting any value in for xx results in the value zero

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