Remember that the terms of a polynomial are the parts of the polynomial separating by addition and subtraction; in other words, the parts separated by (+) and (-) signs. Knowing this, we can separate the terms of our polynomial:
![a^2-ab+8b+b^2-1](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/4d3et3rhl8gg6x8yoo9pzxzgtr3xtdodtf.png)
- First term:
![a^2](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/college/hplq98npqas3f31d1c7kdhwzhj5bh28j90.png)
- Second term:
![-ab](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/8tu8by8jo4exdcdreh3pfdbtppitalc9su.png)
- Third term:
![8b](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/r3ubs289p0fjauyrhags7hpulre3i5gwy6.png)
- Fourth term:
![b^2](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/v125bhookqp5yrqjkah4vv9u6meohivzu2.png)
- Fifth term:
![-1](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/college/cymzspqmtgd803j3m2u5ibnwukh23gdl2b.png)
We can conclude that there are
5 terms in the polynomial
![a^2-ab+8b+b^2-1](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/4d3et3rhl8gg6x8yoo9pzxzgtr3xtdodtf.png)
.