The

Binomial
Theorem
05/18/2021 1
Binomials
 An expression in the form a + b is called a binomial,
because it is made of of two unlike terms.
 We could use the FOIL method repeatedly to evaluate
expressions like (a + b)2, (a + b)3, or (a + b)4.
– (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
– (a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 + b3
– (a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3b + 6a2b2 + 4ab3 + b4
 But to evaluate to higher powers of (a + b)n would be a
difficult and tedious process.
 For a binomial expansion of (a + b)n, look at the
expansions below:
– (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
– (a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 + b3
– (a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3b + 6a2b2 + 4ab3 + b4
• Some simple patterns emerge by looking at these
examples:
– There are n + 1 terms, the first one is an and the last
is bn.
– The exponent of a decreases by 1 for each term and the
exponents of b increase by 1.
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– The sum of the exponents in each term is n.
For bigger exponents
 To evaluate (a + b)8, we will find a way to calculate the
value of each coefficient.
(a + b)8= a8 + a7b + a6b2 + a5b3 + a4b4 + a3b5 + a2b6 +
ab7 + b8
– Pascal’s Triangle will allow us to figure out what the coefficients
of each term will be.
– The basic premise of Pascal’s Triangle is that every entry
(other
than a 1) is the sum of the two entries diagonally above it.
The Factorial
 In any of the examples we had done already, notice
that
the coefficient of an and bn were each 1.
– Also, notice that the coefficient of an-1 and a were each n.
 These values can be calculated by using factorials.
– n factorial is written as n! and calculated by multiplying
the positive whole numbers less than or equal to n.
 Formula: For n≥1, n! = n • (n-1) • (n-2)• . . . • 3 • 2 • 1.
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The Binomial Coefficient
 To find the coefficient of any term of (a +
b)n, we can apply factorials, using the
formula: n n!
n Cr
r r! n r !

– where n is the power of the binomial

expansion, (a + b)n, and
Blaise Pascal – r is the exponent of b for the specific term we are
(1623-1662)
calculating.
 So, for the second term of (a + b)8, we would have n = 8
and r = 1 (because the second term is a7b).
– This procedure could be repeated for any term we choose, or all of
the terms, one after another.
– However, there is an easier way to calculate these
coefficients. 7! 7! 7
Example : 7 C3
(7 3)! • 3! 4!• 3! 4!• 3!
(7 • 6 • 5 • 4) • (3 • 2 • 7 •6 •5 •
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1)
(4 • 3 • 2 • 1) • (3 • 2 • 44 • 3 • 2 •
Recall that a binomial has two terms...
(x + y)
The Binomial Theorem gives us a quick method to
expand binomials raised to powers such as…
(x + y)0 (x + y)1 (x + y)2 (x
+ y)3
Study the following…
Row 0 1 This triangle is called Pascal’s
Row 1 1 1 Triangle (named after mathematician
Row 2 Blaise Pascal).
1 2 1
Row 3 1 3 3 1 Notice that row 5 comes from adding up
Row 4 1 4 6 4 1 row 4’s adjacent numbers.
Row 5 (The first row is named row 0).
1 5 10 10 5 1
Row 6 1 6 15 20 15 6 1

This pattern will help us find the coefficients when we expand binomials...

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Finding coefficient
 What we will notice is that when r=0 and when r=n, then
nCr=1, no matter how big n becomes. This is because:

n! n! n!
nC0 1 n Cn 1
n n!
0 ! 0! n! 0! n n ! n! 0! n!

 Note also that when r = 1 and r = (n-1):

n! n n n! n n 1!
C1 n n Cn 1 n
n
n 11!! n 1! n n 1 ! n 1 ! 1! n
1! 1! 1!

 So, the coefficients of the first and last terms will always be
one.
– The second coefficient and next-to-last coefficient will be
n.
(because the denominators of their formulas are equal)

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Constructing Pascal’s Triangle
 Continue evaluating nCr for n=2 and n=3.
 When we include all the possible values of r such that
0≤r≤n, we get the figure below:

n=0
0C0

n=1
1C 0 1C1

n=2
2C0 2C1 2C2

n=3
3C0 3C 1 3 C2 3C3

n=4
4C0 4C 1 4 C2 4 C3 4C4

n=5
5C0 5 C1 5C2 5C3 5C4 5C 5

n=6
05/18/2021 6C 0 6 C1 6 C2 6C3 6C 4 6 C5 6C 6 7
 Knowing what we know about nCr and its values when
r=0, 1, (n-1), and n, we can fill out the outside values
of the Triangle:

r=0, nCr=1 n=0

n n= C1
11
0
0= 10
n=1
n
0=n 1C11101
r=n, nCr=1 =1 1C111C1 1
0=
n=2
nnnn 2C1012C222CC2
1 1
=1
0
r=1, nCr=n
=2
=1 1121C12C2 2
n=3
n
=2n 10113C33
3C1 3 1 111
3C3C
=1
=3 3C3C3CC2 2 31C13C3
=2
n=4
nn 4C1
3 2
2
10114C444CC1 114 4C1 4CCC2222
r=(n-1), nCr=n =3
=2 3 4C 2 C
4 4
=4
4
=3 4 C
4 4 4 C
CC 3
33
34 1C1 4 44
n=5
nn
=4n 5 1
C1 1 1 C
0 5 55 C5C 1 11 5 C 5 22221
C5 CC
=3 5CCC
2 5 C3
n=5
5
=4 C
C
5 5 CC 33
3 C
35 5C 4
44 51C15C5 5
4
n=6
nn
=5nn 10116C666CC1 11 66C66C
6C1 CC2222 666 1 3333
C66C
CC
=4 C
6 C C
2 6 3 6 4 C
=6
6
=5 6C6
6 6CCC4444 66C 6 CC55 61C16C6 6
6
=6
=5
=6
05/18/2021 =6 8
Using Pascal’s Triangle
 We can also use Pascal’s Triangle to expand
binomials, such as (x - 3)4.
 The numbers in Pascal’s Triangle can be used to find
the coefficients in a binomial expansion.
 For example, the coefficients in (x - 3)4 are
represented
by the row of Pascal’s Triangle for n = 4.
1 4 1
4 6

x 3
4
4 C0 x 4
3
0
4 C1 x 3
3
1
4 C2 x 2
3
2
4 C3 x 1
3
3
4 C4 x 0
3
4

4 3 2 1 0
1x 1 4 x 3 6 x 9 4 x 27 1x 81

1x 4 12x 3 54x 2 108x 81

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The Binomial Theorem
(x y)n xn nxn 1 y nCx nr r
y  nxyn 1 yn
with C
 r
n r
(n n!
r)!r!
 The general idea of the Binomial Theorem is that:
– The term that contains ar in the expansion (a + b)n
is
n
or n! r n
r
r n r ab
n r ab
n r ! r!
– It helps to remember that the sum of the exponents of each term
of the expansion is n. (In our formula, note that r + (n - r) =
n.)
Example: Use the Binomial Theorem to expand (x4 + 2)3.
(x4 2) 3 C (x )
4 3
C ( x ) (2)
4 2

3 3 10 3C 2 (x 4 )(2) 2 (2) 3
3C 3

1 ( x 4 )3 3 ( x 4 ) 2 (2) 3 ( x 4 )(2) 2 1 (2) 3

05/18/2021 x12 6x8 12x 4 8 10

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) •

C7
13
7!
6!• 7! 6!• 7!
13 • 12 • 11• 10 • 9 •
1716
8 6 •5 • 4 •3 • 2 •
1
Therefore,
the eighth term of (x + y)13 is
05/18/2021 1716 x 6 y7.
11
Proof of Binomial Theorem
 Binomial theorem for any positive integer n,
a bn n 0 n
ca n 1 n 1
ca b n 2 n2 2
ca b ........ n cnb n
Proof
The proof is obtained by applying principle of mathematical
induction.
Step: 1 Let the given statement be

f (n) : a b n n n n n 1 n n2 2 0 ........ n cnb n

c a ca bca b
1 2
Check the result for n = 1 we
have
f (1) : a b 1 1c 0a1 1c1 a1 1b1 a b
Thus Result is true for n =1
Step: 2 Let us assume that result is true for n = k

05/18/2021f (k) : a b k k
ca k k
ca k 1
b k
ca k ........ k ck b k 12
Step: 3 We shall prove that f (k + 1) is also true,

f (k 1) : b k1 k 1 k 1 k 1 k ........ k 1
c k 1b k 1
ca c a b k 1c a b k1 2 0
a 1 2

Now, k 1 (a b)(a b) k
b
a a b k c0a k k 1 k 1 k 2 k 2 2 ........ k k k
ca b c a b c b
From Step 2

k 0 k1
ca
k
c1a k b k c 2a k 1b2 ........ k c k abk
k
c0a k b k c 1a k 1b2 ........ k c k 1 abk k c kb k 1

k
c ak 1 k
c k
c
0 1 0 ak b k 2
c k 1
c a k 1b2 .....
k k
c c bk 1
... k
k
c k
ab k
k1

1 k k k1
c c c k
c , and k c 1 c
by using k
0 1 r r k k
05/18/2021 , r1 13
1
 k1
ca0k 1 k1
c 1a k b k 1 2 k 1 2
ca b ........ k ck abk
1
k 1k1
c bk 1

 Thus it has been proved that f(k+1) is true when ever

f(k) is true,
 Therefore, by Principle of mathematical induction f(n) is
true for every Positive integer n.

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