The Binomial

Theorem
 Patterns in Binomial Expansions
By studying the expanded form of each binomial expression, we are able to
discover the following patterns in the resulting polynomials.
1. The first term is an. The exponent on a decreases by 1 in each successive
term.
2. The exponents on b increase by 1 in each successive term. In the first term,
the exponent on b is 0. (Because b0  1, b is not shown in the first term.)
The last term is bn.
3. The sum of the exponents on the variables in any term is equal to n, the
exponent on (a  b)n.
4. There is one more term in the polynomial expansion than there is in the
power of the binomial, n. There are n  1 terms in the expanded form of
(a  b)n.
Using these observations, the variable parts of the expansion (a  b)6 are
a6, a5b, a 4 b 2, a 3b 3 , a2b4, ab5, b 6.
 Patterns in Binomial Expansions
Let's now establish a pattern for the coefficients of the terms in the binomial
expansion. Notice that each row in the figure begins and ends with 1. Any
other number in the row can be obtained by adding the two numbers
immediately above it.
Coefficients for (a  b)1. • 1
Coefficients for (a  b)2. • 2 1
Coefficients for (a  b)3. • 3 3 1
Coefficients for (a  b)4. • 4
6 4 1
Coefficients for (a  b)5. • 5 10 10 5 1
Coefficients for (a  b)6. 1 6 15 20 15 6 1
The above triangular array of coefficients is called Pascal’s triangle. We can
use the numbers in the sixth row and the variable parts we found to write the
expansion for (a  b)6. It is
(a  b)6  a6  6a5b  15a4b2  20a3b3  15a2b4  6ab5  b6
 Binomial series

Binomial series
Binomial expansions

Notice that the coefficients in the expansions are the same as the numbers in
Pascal’s triangle:

(a  b)1  a  b

(a  b)2  a2  2ab  b2

(a  b)3  a3  3a 2b  3ab2  b3

(a  b)4  a4  4a3b  6a2b2  4ab3  b4

 Binomial series

Binomial series
Binomial expansions

The power 4 expansion can be written as:

(a  b)4 1a4b0  4a3b1  6a2b2  4a1b3 1a0b4

or as:

(a  b)4 4 C0a4b0  4C1a3b1  4C2a2b2  4C3a1b3  4C4a0b4

 Definition of a Binomial
n
 
r
Coefficient  .

For nonnegative integers n and r,
with
n
 
n > r, the expression r is called a
 
n
binomial coefficient and
n ! is defined by
  
 r  r !(n  r )!
 Example
7
• Evaluate  
3

Solution: n n!
  
 r  r !(n  r )!
7 7! 7!
   
 3  3!(7  3)! 3!4!
7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 *1
  35
3 * 2 *1* 4 * 3 * 2 *1
 A Formula for Expanding
Binomials: The Binomial Theorem
• For any positive integer n,

 n  n  n  n 1  n  n  2 2 n n
(a  b)   a   a b   a b  ...   b
n

0 1  3  n
 Example
• Expand ( x  4) 3

Solution:
( x  4) 3
 3  3  3 2 3  3 3
   x    x * 4    x * 4   4
2

0 1   2  3
 Example cont.
• Expand ( x  4) 3

Solution:
( x  4) 3
 3  3  3 2 3  3 3
   x    x * 4    x * 4   4
2

 0 1   2  3
3! 3 3! 2 3! 3!
 x  4x  16 x  64
0!3! 1!2! 2!1! 3!0!
 x 3  12 x 2  48 x  64
Finding a Particular Term in a
Binomial Expansion

The rth term of the expansion of

(a+b)n is
 n  n  r 1 r 1
 a b
 r  1
 Example
Find the third term in the expansion of (4x-2y) 8
Solution: (4x-2y)8 n=8, r=3, a=4x, b=-2y
 n  n  r 1 r 1
 a b
 r  1
8 
  (4 x)831 (2 y ) 31
 3  1
8!
 (4 x) 6 (2 y ) 2
2!6!
 28(4096) x 6 4 y 2  458,752 x 6 y 2
 Text Example
Find the fourth term in the expansion of (3x  2y)7.
Solution We will use the formula for the rth term of the expansion (a  b)n,
7 7 3 7 7!
 (3x) (2y)   (3x)4 (2y) 3 
3
(3x)4 (2y)3
3 3 3!(7  3)!

to find the fourth term of (3x  2y)7. For the fourth term of (3x  2y)7,
n  7, r  4, a  3x, and b  2y. Thus, the fourth term is
7! 7 6  5 4!
(81x 4 )(8y 3 )  (81x 4 )(8y 3 )  35(81x 4 )(8y 3 )  22,680x 4 y 3
3!4! 3 2 1 4!
The Binomial
Theorem