Chapter P - Review Exercises - Page 143: 82

$-x^2-17xy-3y^2$ Degree: 2

1. Combine like terms 2. Since there are two variables, we must look at each term. The degree of each term is found by adding the exponents the variables are raised to. The largest degree of the terms is the one used. For this polynomial, each term has an individual degree of 2, so the polynomial's degree is also 2.