Algebra 2

Lesson 10-6
Real-World Example 1 Use Pascals Triangle
A manager plans to hire 6 new employees. Not wanting to appear biased, the
manager refuses to hire a combination of males and females that has less
than a 20% chance of occurring randomly. Find the probability of hiring 4
men and 2 women by expanding (m + f)6.
Using Pascals triangle to write the expansion.
5
6
7
8

1
1
1
1

5
6

7
8

10
15

21
28

10
20

35
56

5
15

35
70

1
6

21
56

1
7

28

1
8

(m + f)6 = m6 + 6m5f + 15m4f2 + 20m3f3 + 15m2f4 + 6mf5 + f6

By adding the coefficients of the polynomial, we determine that there are 64
combinations of males and females that could be hired.
15m4f2 represents the number of combinations with 4 males and 2 females.
Therefore, there is a
females.

15
64

or about an 23% chance of randomly hiring 4 males and 2

Example 2 Use the Binomial Theorem

Expand (x + y)5.
Method 1 Use combinations.
Replace n with 5 in the Binomial Theorem.
(x + y)5 = x5 + 5C1 x4y + 5C2 x3y2 + 5C3 x2y3 + 5C4xy4 +y5
5!
5!
5!
5!
4
1
3
2
2
3
(x + y) = 1x + 4! x (y) + 2!3! x y + 3!2! x y + 4! xy4+ y5
5

= x5 + 5x4y + 10 x3y2 + 10 x2y3 + 5xy4+ y5

Method 2 Use Pascals triangle.
Use the Binomial Theorem to determine exponents but instead of finding the
coefficients by using combinations look at the fifth row of Pascals triangle.
5
1
5
10
10
5
1
6
1
6
15
20
15
6
1
7
1
7
21
35
35
21
7
1
(x + y)5 = x5 + 5x4y + 10 x3y2 + 10 x2y3 + 5xy4+ y5

Example 3 Coefficients Other Than 1

Expand (3x +4)7.
Using the Binomial Theorem,
(3x + 4)7
= 7C0(3x)7(-4)0 + 7C1(3x)6(-4)1 + 7C2(3x)5(-4)2 + 7C3(3x)4(-4)3 + 7C4(3x)3(-4)4 3 +
2
5
1
6
0
7
7C5(3x) (-4) + 7C6(3x) (-4) + 7C0(3x) (-4)
7!
7!
7!
7!
7!
= (3x)7(4)0 + 6! (3x)6(4)1 + 2!5! (3x)5(4)2 + 3!4! (3x)4(4)3 + 4!3! (3x)3(4)4 + 5!2! (3x)2(4)5
7!
+ 6! (3x)1(4)6 + (3x)0(4)7
7!
7!
7!
7!
7!
7
6
5
4
3
= 2187x + 6! (729x )(4) + 2!5! (243x )(16) + 3!4! (81x )(64) + 4!3! (27x )(256) + 5!2!
7!
2
(9x )(1024) + 6! (3x)(4096)6 + 16,384

= 2187x7 + 20,412x6 + 81,648x5 + 181,440x4 + 241,920x3 + 193,536x2 + 86,016x +

16,384
Example 4 Determine a Single Term
Find the seventh term in the expansion of (m 5)8.
Step 1 Use the Binomial Theorem to write the expansion in sigma notation.
8
8!
8
k
m8 k 5
m 5
k 0 8 k ! k !
Step 2
8!
8!
k
6
m8k 5
m86 5 For the seventh term, k = 6
8 k !k !
8 6 !6!
8 7 2
6
m 5
2 1
437,500m 2

8!
2! 6!

8 7 6!

87

= 2! 6! or 2 1

Simplify.