Session-23

Binomial Coefficients
Binomial Theorem
n 1 nr n 1
( x  y )  x  nx y 
n n
 nCr x y 
r
 nxy y n

n!
with n Cr 
( n  r )! r !

2
Binomial Theorem

Example: Use the Binomial Theorem to expand (x4 + 2)3.

(x 4  2) 3  3 C0(x 4 ) 3  3 C1( x 4 ) 2 ( 2)  3 C 2(x 4 )( 2) 2  3 C3(2)3

 1 (x 4 ) 3  3( x 4 ) 2 ( 2)  3(x 4 )( 2) 2  1(2)3
 x12  6 x 8  12 x 4  8

4
Example: Use the Binomial Theorem to write the first three
terms in the expansion of (2a + b)12 .

12  12  12 

( 2a  b)   ( 2a )   ( 2a ) b   ( 2a )10 b 2  ...
12 12 11

0  1  2 

12! 12! 12!

 (2 a ) 
12 12
( 2 a )b 
11 11
( 210 a10 )b 2  ...
(12  0)! • 0! (12  1)! • 1! (12  2)! • 2!

 ( 212 a12 )  12( 211 a11 )b  (12 • 11)( 210 a10 )b 2  ...

 4096 a 12  24576 a 11b  135168 a 10b 2  ...

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Example: Find the eighth term in the expansion of (x + y)13 .

Think of the first term of the expansion as x13y 0 . The power of

y is 1 less than the number of the term in the expansion.
The eighth term is 13C7 x 6 y7.

13! (13 • 12 • 11 • 10 • 9 • 8) • 7!
13 C 7  
6! • 7! 6! • 7!
13 • 12 • 11 • 10 • 9 • 8
  1716
6 • 5 • 4 • 3 • 2 •1

Therefore, the eighth term of (x + y)13 is 1716 x 6 y7.

6
Find the 6th term in the expansion of (3a + 2b)12
Using the Binomial Theorem, let x = 3a and y = 2b
and note that in the 6th term, the exponent of y is
m = 5 and the exponent of x is n – m = 12 – 5 = 7.

Consequently, the 6th term of the expansion is:

12 1110  9  8  7!
12 C5 x y 
7 5
3a  2b 
7 5

7!5!

= 55,427,328 a7b5
Example1
Example 2
Binomial formula
Work problems