Chapter 2 word hunt

Word hunt: Introduction to Linear Polynomials

12 key words from this chapter are hidden in the grid. Find each one to unlock a short explanation. Your grid and the words you have found are remembered until you finish or ask for a new grid: on this device, or in your account on every device when you are signed in.

Polynomial: An expression made of one variable, its whole-number powers, coefficients and a constant, joined by + and −. For example, 5y³ + y² + 2y − 1.

Degree: The highest power of the variable in a polynomial. x² + 5x + 1 has degree 2, and a plain number like 8 has degree 0.

Linear polynomial: A polynomial of degree 1, like 2x + 3. When the input goes up in equal steps, its value changes by equal jumps, and its graph is a straight line.

Coefficient: The number multiplying the variable in a term. In 4x + 5y + 3, the coefficient of x is 4 and of y is 5. In −x², it is −1.

Constant: A term with no variable, so its value never changes, like the 3 in 4x + 5y + 3.

Variable: A letter, like x or y, that stands for a number that can change. Older books called these letter-numbers.

Slope: The a in y = ax + b. It tells you how much y changes when x goes up by 1. A positive slope rises from left to right; a negative slope falls.

y-intercept: The b in y = ax + b. It is where the line crosses the y-axis, at the point (0, b).

Quadratic: A polynomial of degree 2, like x² + 5x + 1, or the wire-rectangle area 10x − x². Its values do not change by equal jumps.

Linear growth: A quantity that goes up by the same amount every step, like a journey that costs ₹60 more for every extra km. Its line has a positive slope.

Linear decay: A quantity that goes down by the same amount every step, like water in a tank dropping 0.5 m every month. Its line has a negative slope.

Parallel lines: Lines that never meet. Lines y = ax + b with the same slope a but different b are parallel: changing b only slides the line up or down.

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