Name: ________________________ Class: __________( ) Date: ____________________

M2 Taster Program
Unit 1 Binomial Expansion
1.1 Activity
An algebraic expression containing two terms is called a binomial, e.g. a +b, 3x – y are binomial. We are
going to study the expansion of (x + y)n, where n is a non-negative integer.

1. Expand the following binomials and arrange the answers in descending powers of x:
(a) ( x  y) 0 =
(b) ( x  y)1 =
(c) ( x  y) 2 =
(d) ( x  y) 3 =

(e) ( x  y) 4 =

2. According to the expansion of  x  y n in Question 1, write down the coefficients in the nth row in

the following pattern up to n  4 , and hence guess the coefficients for n  5 and n  6 .
n0

n 1

n2

n3

n4

n5

n6

3. Observe the pattern in Question 2.

(a) The number of terms in the nth row is _____________________
(b) The leftmost number in each row is _______________________
(c) The rightmost number in each row is ______________________
(d) The whole pattern is ___________________________
(e) The number in each circle is equal to ______________________________________

Unit 1 Binomial Expansion p. 1

Name: ________________________ Class: __________( ) Date: ____________________

4. Consider x  y 4  1x 4  4 x 3 y  6 x 2 y 2  4 xy 3  1y 4

The powers of x in successive terms decrease _________:

4 3 2 1 0
e.g. x, x, x, x, x
The powers of y in successive terms increase __________:
0 1 2 3 4
e.g. y, y, y, y, y
The sum of powers of x and y in each term is equal to _______.

 Guess (Expand the following binomials and arrange the answers in ascending powers of x without long
multiplication)
(a) ( x  y) 5 =
(b) ( x  y) 6 =
(c) ( x  y) 7 =

Remarks: The above triangular pattern is called the ___________________________.

For more interesting patterns from Pascal’s Triangle, please refer to http://ptri1.tripod.com/.
Example:

Hockey Stick Pattern

If a diagonal of numbers of any length is selected starting at any of the 1's bordering the sides of the triangle
and ending on any number inside the triangle on that diagonal, the sum of the numbers inside the selection is
equal to the number below the end of the selection that is not on the same diagonal itself. If you don't
understand that, look at the drawing.
1+6+21+56 = 84
1+7+28+84+210+462+924 = 1716
1+12 = 13

Unit 1 Binomial Expansion p. 2

Name: ________________________ Class: __________( ) Date: ____________________
1.2 Binomial expansion by Pascal’s triangle
From the above activity, we observe
Properties of the expansion of ( x  y) n
1. No. of terms =
2. Powers of x ________________ by 1 in successive terms;
3. Powers of y ________________ by 1 in successive terms;
4. Sum of Powers of x and y in each term =
5. Coefficients of the 1st and the last term are _______
6. Coefficients of terms are symmetrical.

Example 1.1:
Expand the following expressions by using the Pascal’s triangle.
(a) ( 4  2 x) 3

(b)
( x  y) 5
 [ x  ( y )]5
 ___( x) 5  ___( x) 4 ( y )  ___( x) 3 ( y ) 2  ___( )2 ( ) 3  ___( )( ) 4  ___( )5


Quick Practice 1.1

(a) (3x  2) 3

(b) (2a  b) 5

Example 1.2:
4
 1 
(a) Expand  x   in descending powers of x.
 2x 

(b) Hence, find the constant term in the expansion.

Solution:

Unit 1 Binomial Expansion p. 3

Name: ________________________ Class: __________( ) Date: ____________________
Quick Practice 1.2
3
 1
(a) Expand  2 x   .
 x

(b) Hence, find the term which is independent of x. [0]

Exercise 1A

Unit 1 Binomial Expansion p. 4

Name: ________________________ Class: __________( ) Date: ____________________
Example 1.3:
Find the coefficient of x 2 and the constant term in the expansion of
2
 1
(a) 1  2 x  2  x 
3 2
(b) 1  2 x   2  
6

 x

Solution:

Quick Practice 1.3

2
3 
Find the coefficient of x and the constant term in the expansion of 1  3x    1 .
5
[2985; 901]
x 

Unit 1 Binomial Expansion p. 5

Name: ________________________ Class: __________( ) Date: ____________________
Further Practice
p
In the expansion of 1  x  p  qx 8 , the coefficient of x 5 is 0. Find the value of
4
1. . [ ]
q 5

In the expansion of 1  ax 1  bx  , the coefficients of x and x 2 are 0 and 

6 21
2. respectively. Find
4
1 1
the values of a and b. [ a  3, b  or a  3, b   ]
2 2

Unit 1 Binomial Expansion p. 6

Name: ________________________ Class: __________( ) Date: ____________________
Exercise 1B
2
6 1 
1. Find the constant term in the expansion of 2  x   2  1 . [  356 ]
x 

2. Find the coefficient of y 8 in the expansion of 1  3 y 1  2 y 8 . [2816]

[Hint: Need NOT expand 1  2 y 8 completely.]

3. Given that the coefficients of x and x 2 in the expansion of 1  ax 1  bx 6 are  19 and 153

31 17
respectively, find the values of a and b. [ a  1, b  3 or a  ,b ]
7 7
2
 a
It is given that the constant term in the expansion of 1   3  x  is  972 , where a is a constant.
6
4.
 x

7
Find the values of a. [1, ]
5
5.

(a) Expand 1  bx  in ascending powers of x. [ 1  4bx  6b 2 x 2  4b 3 x 3  b 4 x 4 ]

4

(b) Consider the expansion 2  x  1  bx  .

3 4

(i) Express the coefficient of x 2 in the expansion in terms of b. [ 48b 2  48b  6 ]

1 3
(ii) If the coefficient of x 2 in the expansion is  3 , find the value of b. [ or ]
4 4

[HKCEE Past Paper]

1. [AMath 05-02]
Expand (1 + 𝑦)5. (2 marks)

2. [AMath 08-02]
3
 1
(a) Expand  2 x   .
 x

3
 1
(b) Find the coefficient of x in the expansion of (3x 2  x  5) 2 x   . [  42 ]
 x

(4 marks)

Unit 1 Binomial Expansion p. 7