Binomial Theorem: Expansion of (x + y)n
2. Going in opposite directions:
n(n - 1) n - 2 2
( x + y )n = x n + nx n -1 y 1 + x y
2!
n(n - 1)(n - 2) n - 3 3
( x + y )n = + x y + ! + nx 1 y n -1 + y n
3!
Note:
1. It starts with xn and ends with yn.
2. The power of x decreases by 1 while the power
of y increases by 1.
3. The sum of the powers of x & y in any term is
always n.
4. There will be n + 1 terms in the expansion.
5. If the coefficient of a term is multiplied by the
power of x in that term and then the product
divided by the power of y increased by 1, the
resulting number is the coefficient of the next
term.
rth Term of Binomial Expansion
th n n -m m
r term in (x + y) = C(n, m)x y 2. Find the constant term in the expansion of (x +
n!
where m = r – 1 and C(n, m) =
(n - m)! m !
Motion-related Problems
distance = velocity × time
Motion in water current or air current
If x = velocity of (boat/airplane) in still
(water/air)
y = velocity of the (water/air), then
x + y = velocity when going (downstream/with the
wind)
x – y = velocity when going (upstream/against the
wind)
Motion in a circle or any closed circuit
Starting at the same time from the same point
1. Going in the same the direction:
dfaster – dslower = 1 circuit
minutes before he discovered his cap missing.
dfaster + dslower = 1 circuit
Work-related Problems
Case 1: Each worker has different rates
Job done = Rate ´ Time
job done
Rate =
time
Combined rates = Rate 1 ± Rate 2
Case 2: Each worker has the same rate
Job done = Number of men ´ Number of days
To finish the job
S(Job done) = total number of man-days
Problems:
1. Find the 6th term in the expansion of (2x3 + 9y)11.
Answer: 1,745,960,832x18y5
x–3/2)15. Answer: 5,005
3. Find the sum of the coefficients of the terms in
the expansion of (4x – 7y)4. Answer: 81
4. A certain physicist, who is always in a hurry,
walks up an ongoing escalator at the rate of one
step per second. Twenty steps bring him to the
top. Next day he goes up at two steps per
second, reaching the top in 32 steps. How
many steps are there in the escalator? Answer: 80
5. A train, an hour after starting, had to stop due
to some engine trouble. After one hour, it
proceeded at 60% of its former rate and arrived
3 hours after the time. Had the incident
happened 50km farther on the line, it would
have arrived 1.5 hours sooner. Find the length
of the journey. Answer: 88.89 km
6. A man was enjoying the afternoon rowing
leisurely upstream when his baseball cap fell in
the water. So absorbed was he in listening to
the music from his earphones that it was 12
He turned around and recovered the cap 1 km
downstream from where it fell. Assuming
constant speed and neglecting the time for
turnaround, what was the speed of the water
current? Answer: 2.5 kph
7. A and B run around a circular track whose
circumference is 150m. When they run in
opposite directions, they meet every 5 seconds,
but when they run in the same direction from
the same point, they are together every 25
seconds. What are their rates?
Answer: 18m/s & 12m/s
8. A policeman is pursuing a snatcher who is
ahead by 72 of his own leaps. The snatcher
takes 6 leaps while the cop takes 5 leaps, but 4
leaps of the snatcher are as long as 3 leaps of the
cop. How many leaps will the cop make before
he catches the snatcher? Policeman: 540 leaps
9. An elevated concrete tank is filled through its
inlet pipe and then is emptied through its outlet
pipe in a total time of 9 hours. If water enters
through the inlet pipe and is simultaneously
allowed to leave through the outlet pipe, the
tank is filled in 20 hours. How long will it take
to fill the tank if the outlet is closed? Ans: 4 hrs
10. A job can be done by 20 laborers in 30 days. To
finish the job earlier 25 men were hired.
However, after working for 20 days, 10 men
quitted and were not replaced. Find the total
number of days to finish the job. Answer: 26 2 3
PROBLEMS FOR PRACTICE
1. A man passed one-sixth of his life in childhood,
one-twelfth in youth, and one-seventh more as
a bachelor. Five years after his marriage, a son
was born who died four years before his father
at half his father’s final age. What was the
man’s final age? Answer: 84
2. Robert is 15 years older than his brother Stan.
However, y years ago, Robert was twice as old
as Stan. If Stan is b years old now and b > y, find
the value of b – y. Answer: 15
3. Find the term that is independent of x in the
expansion of (2 + 3/x2)(x – 2/x)6. Answer: -140
4. What is the coefficient of the 5th term of the
expansion of (2x2 + 3y3)10? How about the sum
of the exponents of the terms in the expansion?
Answer: 1,088,640; 275
5. Find the sum of the coefficients of the
expansion (x + 2)4. Answer: 65
6. Working together, observation planes A, B and
C can map a certain region in three hours. After
working for one hour, A developed engine
trouble and had to stop. As a consequence, B
and C had to continue working for the next four
hours to complete the job. It turned out
however that half of the photographs taken by
A were spoiled. The following day, C was sent
to photograph that part of the region for which
A’s photographs were spoiled. It took C one
and a half hours to complete the task. How long
will it take each plane to map the region alone?
Answer: A = 6 hrs, B = 9 hrs, C = 18 hrs
7. Kevin can finish a job in 8 hours. Melvin can
do it in 5 hrs. If Kevin worked for 3 hours and
then Melvin was asked to help him finish it,
how long will Melvin have to work with Kevin
to finish the job? Answer: 1.92 hrs
8. A job could be done by eleven workers in 15
days. Five workers started the job. They were
reinforced with four more workers at the
beginning of the 6th day. Find the total number
of days it took them to finish the job. Ans: 20.56
9. A man and a boy can do in 15 days a piece of
work which could be done by 7 men and 9 boys
in 2 days. In how many days could one man
finish the work alone? Answer: 20 days
10. A and B run a 1.5-kilometer race. In the first
heat, A gives B a start of 11 meters and beats
him by 57 seconds. In the second heat, A gives
B a start of 81 seconds and is beaten by 88
meters. Find the rate of A in km/hr. Ans: 15.1
11. A man covers the distance A to B in 5 hours and
30 minutes. During the second half of the
distance, he traveled 1/2 km less per hour than
during the first half. In the return trip from B
to A, by traveling 1 km/hr faster than during
the first half of his trip from A to B, he
consumed 3 and 3/4 hours. Determine the
distance AB. Answer: 15 km
12. A battleship started on a 500-mile voyage but
was brought to full stop an hour after starting
for military reasons, delaying it for full hour,
after which it was ordered to proceed at a
reduced velocity equivalent to 75% of its
former rate. The ship arrived at its destination
3 hours and 3 quarters after scheduled time. If
it was desired for the ship to arrive one hour
and a quarter sooner, how far from the
destination should the ship have been ordered
stopped? Answer: 243.24 mi.
13. A marksman fires a target 420 m away and
hears the bullet strikes the target 2 seconds after
he pulled the trigger. An observer 525 m away
from the target and 455 m away from the
marksman hears the bullet strikes the target 1
second after he hears the report of the rifle.
What is the velocity of the bullet? Ans: 525 m/s
14. A bus travels a distance of 350 km in exactly the
same time that a car travels a distance of 600
km. If the car is 50 kph faster than the bus, how
fast was the bus? Ans: 70 kph
15. In what time would A, B and C together do a
work if A alone could do it in six hours more, B
alone in one hour more, and C alone in twice
the time? Answer: 40 minutes
16. Two planes leave Manila for Tokyo, a distance
of 900 miles. The four-motored plane A travels
at a ground speed of 90 mph faster than the
two-motored plane B. Plane A arrives in Tokyo
2 hr 15 min ahead of plane B. What is the
ground speed of plane B? Answer: 150 mph
17. An airplane takes 1.5 hours to travel 600 mi
with the wind and 1.6 hours to fly back. Find
the speed of the plane. Answer: 387.5mph
18. A boatman rows to a place 48 km distant and
back in 14 hours; he finds he can row 4km with
the stream in the same time as 3 km against the
stream. Find the rate of the stream. Ans: 1 kph
19. A and B compete in a race. A run at a constant
rate of 126 m/min while B runs 145 m the first
minute, 143 m the second minute, 141 m the
third minute and so on. When will A and B be
together again? Answer: 20 min
20. Two trains, one 350 ft long, the other 450 ft long,
on parallel tracks, can pass each other
completely in 8 seconds when moving in
opposite directions. When moving in the same
direction, the faster train completely passes the
slower one in 16 seconds. Find the speed of the
faster train. Answer: 75 fps