What does it mean when a question asks...the multiplicity of 2?

Question

anonymous · Answer

this question involves polynomial functions btw

anonymous · Answer

the no of times a root occurs

anonymous · Answer

so...like an equation that looks like...y=(x-7)^2 would have a multiplicity of 2?

anonymous · Answer

yep

anonymous · Answer

great thanks for your help!

anonymous · Answer

the multiplicity of a member of a multiset is the number of times it appears in the multiset. For example, the number of times a given polynomial equation has a root at a given point.

In the prime factorization, for example,

    60 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5

the multiplicity of the prime factor 2 is 2, while the multiplicity of each of the prime factors 3 and 5 is 1. 
Multiplicity can be thought of as "How many times does the solution appear in the original equation