Lesson 2.

4
Binomial Theorem
2.4.1 Binomial Coefficients
Recall that a binomial is a polynomial that has two terms. In this lesson, you will
study a formula that gives a quick method of raising a binomial to a power. To begin,
look at the expansion of (x + y) n for several values of n.

There are several observations you can make about these expansions.
1. In each expansion, there are n + 1 terms.
2. In each expansion, x and y have symmetrical roles. The powers of x decrease
by 1 in successive terms, whereas the powers of y increase by 1.
3. The sum of the powers of each term is n. For instance, in the expansion of (x
+ y) 5 the sum of the powers of each term is 5.

4. The coefficients increase and then decrease in a symmetric pattern.

The coefficients of a binomial expansion are called binomial coefficients. To

find them, you can use the Binomial Theorem.

The Binomial Theorem

In the expansion of (x + y) n

the coefficient of x n-ryr is

The symbol ( nr) is often used in place of nCr to denote binomial coefficients.
Finding Binomial Coefficients
Find each binomial coefficient
a. 8C2
b. ( 103)
c. 7C0
d. ( 88)

Solution:
a.

b.

c.

d.

When r ≠ 0 and r ≠ n, as in parts (a) and (b) above, there is a simple pattern for
evaluating binomial coefficients that works because there will always be factorial terms
that divide out from the expression.

Example:
Find each binomial coefficient.
a. 7C3
b. ( 74)
c. 12C1
d. ( 1211 )

Solution:
a.

b.

c.
 d.

It is not a coincidence that the results in parts (a) and (b) are the same and that
the results in parts (c) and (d) are the same. In general, it is true that

C = nCn-r.
n r

This shows the symmetric property of binomial coefficients that was identified
earlier.

2.4.2 Pascal’s Triangle

There is a convenient way to remember the pattern for binomial coefficients. By
arranging the coefficients in a triangular pattern, you obtain the following array, which
is called Pascal’s Triangle. This triangle is named after the famous French mathematician
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).

The first and last numbers in each row of Pascal’s Triangle are 1. Every other
number in each row is formed by adding the two numbers immediately above the
number. Pascal noticed that numbers in this triangle are precisely the same numbers
that are the coefficients of binomial expansions, as follows.

The top row in Pascal’s Triangle is called the zeroth row because it corresponds
to the binomial expansion (x + y) 0 = 1. Similarly, the next row is called the first row
because it corresponds to the binomial expansion (x + y) 1 = 1(x) + 1(y). In general, the
nth row in Pascal’s Triangle gives the coefficients of (x + y) n.
Using Pascal’s Triangle
Use the seventh row of Pascal’s Triangle to find the binomial coefficients.

C, C, C, C, C, C, C, C, C
8 0 8 1 8 2 8 3 8 48 58 68 78 8

Solution:

2.4.3 Binomial Expansions

Write the expansion for the expression
(x + 1) 3

Solution
The binomial coefficients from the third row of Pascal’s Triangle are
1, 3, 3, 1.

So, the expansion is as follows.

To expand binomials representing differences rather than sums, you alternate

signs. Here are two examples.

Expanding a Binomial
Write the expansion for each expression.
a. (2x - 3) 4
b. (x – 2y)4

Solution
The binomial coefficients from the fourth row of Pascal’s Triangle are
1, 4, 6, 4, 1.

Therefore, the expansions are as follows.

a.
 b.

Example:
Write the expansion for (x 2 + 4) 3

Solution:
Use the third row of Pascal’s Triangle, as follows.

Finding a Term in a Binomial Expansion

a. Find the sixth term of (a + 2b) 8
b. Find the coefficient of the term in the expansion of (3a + 2b) 11.

Solution:
a. Remember that the formula is for the (r + 1)thterm, so r is one less than the
number of the term you are looking for. So, to find the sixth term in this
binomial expansion, use r = 5, n = 8, x = a, and y = 2b, as shown.

b. In this case, n = 11, r = 5, x = 3a, and y = -2b. Substitute these values to

obtain

So, the coefficient is – 10,777,536

2.4.4 Approximation and Combination Identities

Sum of The Squares of the Binomial Coefficients

In the following diagram of Pascal’s triangle, we see that by summing the
squares of the numbers in the fourth row,

12 + 42 + 62 + 42 + 12 = 70

We get the middle number of the eighth row.

 Sum of the squares for a row of Pascal’s triangle.

Using the fact that

We can write the binomial expansion in two different ways:

Multiplying these two expansions together, we see that in (1 + x) n (1 + x) n the

coefficient of x n is

Also, since

the coefficient of x n in this expansion is ( 2nn). Equating the two expressions for
the coefficient of x n we have

Using summation notation, this identity is

 The case for n=4 was given at the start of this section:

Example:
Prove the identity

And check in the case when n=4.

Solution
We begin with the expansion of (1+x) n from the binomial theorem:

Differentiating both sides of this identity with respect to x gives

Now substitute x=1to obtain the result:

When n=4,the left-hand side is 4× 23 =32 and the right-hand side is

Approximations
The binomial theorem can be used to find approximations. For example, for
1.015 we have

(1 + 0.01) 5 ≈1+5×0.01+10× 0.012 =1+0.05+10×0.0001=1.051.

Of course, with calculators, it is not necessary to go through such a process.

However, we can see that (1+x) n>1+nx for x>0, which is very useful in equality.