The of the degrees of each factor is the degree of the product.

The ___SUM___ of the degrees of each factor is the degree of the product.

Step-by-step explanation:

When you multiply factor variables that are similar, you sum up their degrees.

For example, you want to multiply x by itself (x * x)... both x terms are at the power of 1.  The result will be x², which is a power of two.

x^3 * x^5 = x^8

x^2 * x^3 = x^5

x^10 * x^5 = x^15

and so on

Same rule applies to any power, even 0.  Let's remind that anything (number or variable) as power 0 = 1... so they're not visible in a product.

if we have 2x, we can also write it as 2xy^0 (since y^0 = 1, 2x = 2xy^0).

In a product with another factor, we would have:

2x * 2xy = 4x²y (here the x power is 1 + 1 = 2, the y power is 0 + 1=1)