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Why can't polynomials have negative or fractional exponents?

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I would have added this as a comment to Newb's answer but for some reason I can't add a comment today. But in answer to Quora Fea's question in the comments of that answer - is it possibly because a 'polynomial' with negative exponents could be converted into a valid one with positive exponents by multiplying by some x^n. read more

Because by definition, a polynomial has non-negative integer exponents of variables. So you could make an expression with negative or fractional exponents, it just wouldn’t be called a polynomial. read more

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