In the theory of polynomials, a polynomial of degree 2 is generally denoted as "ax"2 + "bx" + "c", where "a", "b" and "c" are called coefficients (they are assumed to be fixed, i.e., parameters of the problem considered) while "x" is called a variable. When studying this polynomial for its polynomial function this "x" stands for the function argument. When studying the polynomial as an object in itself, "x" is taken to be an indeterminate, and would often be written with a capital letter instead to indicate this status.