RISHABH DUBEY

XI-A
50
Expanding Binomials
 - in this section we will look at ways to expand
binomial expressions like:
 (x + y)5
 (2x – 3y)7
 We will do this WITHOUT having to multiply the
expressions out
Pascal's Triangle
 Consider (x + y)n
 (x + y)0 = 1 which we can think of as 1x0y0
 (x + y)1 = x + y OR 1x1y0 + 1x0y1
 (x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2
= 1x2y0 + 2x1y1 + 1x0y2
 (x + y)3 = x3 + 3x2y + 3xy2 + y3
OR 1x3y0 + 3x2y1 + 3x1y2 + 1x0y3
Notice that for each term in the expansion…
The exponents add up to “n”
Also, for each subsequent term, the exponent for x decreases
by 1 while the exponent for y INCREASES by one
Additionally, the coefficients for the terms form a pattern
known as Pascals’ Triangle (see board)
To perform a binomial
expansion:
 Go to the appropriate row in Pascal’s triangle to obtain
the coefficients
 Write out terms with the variables, remembering that
the powers add up to n for each term, start with xny0,
end with x0yn
 See the example on the next slide
Patterns in the expansion of
(x + y)n
 There are n + 1 terms
 The exponent n of (x+y)n is the exponent of x in
the 1st term and the exponent of y in the last term
 In successive terms, the exponent of x decreases by
1 and the exponent of y increases by 1
 The sum of the exponents in each term is n
 The coefficients are symmetric: They increase at
the beginning of the expansion and decrease at the
end
Expand
Write row 5 of Pascal’s triangle.
1 5 10 10 5 1
Use the patterns of a binomial expansion and the
coefficients to write the expansion of

Answer:
Expand

Answer:
The Binomial Theorem
 Another way to show the coefficients in a binomial
expansion
 If n is a nonnegative integer, then (a + b)n = 1anb0 +
(n/1)an-1b1 + (n(n-1)/(1*2)an-2b2 + (n(n-1)(n-2))/(1*2*3)
an-3b3 + … 1a0bn
Expand
The expression will have nine terms. Use the sequence

to find the coefficients

for the first five terms. Use symmetry to find the

remaining coefficients.
Answer:
Expand

Answer:
Factorials
 The factors in the coefficients of a binomial
expansion involve special products called
FACTORIALS
 For example, the product 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 is written 4!
and is read “4 factorial”
 In general, if n is a positive integer, then n! equals
n * (n – 1) * (n – 2) * (n – 3) *…2*1
 (By definition, 0! = 1)
 If a rational expression contains some factorials,
often a number of terms will cancel out
Evaluate

Answer:
Binomial Theorem, factorial form
n! n 0 n! n 1 1 n! n2 2 n! 0 n
( x  y) 
n
x y  x y  x y  ...  x y
n !0! (n  1)!1! (n  2)!2! 0!n!
n
n!
( x  y)   n nk k
*x y
k  0 ( n  k )! k !
Expand

Binomial Theorem,
factorial form

Let
Simplify.
Answer:
Expand

Answer:
Finding a specific term
 Sometimes you are only asked to find one term in an
expansion
 Note that when the Binomial expansion is written
using Sigma notation, k = 0 for the 1st term, k = 1 for
the 2nd term, k = 2 for the 3rd term, and so on.
 In general, the value of k is one less than the number
of the term you are finding!
Find the fourth term in the expansion of

First, use the Binomial Theorem to write the expression

in sigma notation.

In the fourth term,

Answer: Simplify.