A polynomial is any curve that can be described by the set of numbers { a 0 , a 1 , . . . , a n } {\displaystyle \{a_{0},a_{1},...,a_{n}\}} such that f ( x ) = a n x n + a n − 1 x n − 1 + . . . + a 1 x + a 0 {\displaystyle f(x)=a_{n}x^{n}+a_{n-1}x^{n-1}+...+a_{1}x+a_{0}} , or alternatively