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Triangular Array Binomial Coefficients: Pascal's Triangle Is A

The document discusses the relationship between binomial theorem and Pascal's triangle. It explains that Pascal's triangle provides the coefficients for expanding binomial expressions of the form (a + b)n, where the sum of the exponents of a and b in each term equals the power n. It provides examples of expanding (a + b)2 and (a + b)3 to demonstrate this principle. The document also notes that the coefficients given by Pascal's triangle are symmetric and allow one to easily find the terms of any binomial expansion.

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Jaycher Bagnol
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88 views

Triangular Array Binomial Coefficients: Pascal's Triangle Is A

The document discusses the relationship between binomial theorem and Pascal's triangle. It explains that Pascal's triangle provides the coefficients for expanding binomial expressions of the form (a + b)n, where the sum of the exponents of a and b in each term equals the power n. It provides examples of expanding (a + b)2 and (a + b)3 to demonstrate this principle. The document also notes that the coefficients given by Pascal's triangle are symmetric and allow one to easily find the terms of any binomial expansion.

Uploaded by

Jaycher Bagnol
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson 2 Performance Task

Relationship of Binomial Theorem and Pascal’s Triangle

Binomial Expansions Using Pascal's Triangle. Consider the following expanded powers of (a + b)n, where a + b
is any binomial and n is a whole number. In each term, the sum of the exponents is n, the power to which
the binomial is raised. When expanding the power of a binomial, you must count how many possible
combinations you have to find numbers i and j such that i+j=n . These numbers will be the exponents of the
variables, and you will consider the sum of aibj with some coefficients. And here comes Pascal's triangle.
Pascal's triangle is a triangular array of the binomial coefficients that arises in probability theory, combinatorics,
and algebra. 

How do you do Pascal's Triangle in binomial expansion?

Every row is built from the row above it. Pascal's Triangle gives us the coefficients for an expanded binomial of
the form (a + b)n, where n is the row of the triangle. The Binomial Theorem tells us we can use these coefficients
to find the entire expanded binomial, with a couple extra tricks thrown in.

Let's consider the n−th power of the binomial (a+b), namely (a+b)n. It must be a polynomial in a and b of degree n,
and so every term must be of degree n, which means that the exponents of a and b must sum to n. Let's make a
couple of examples:
 (a+b)2=a2+2ab+b2. All terms are of degree two: The exponent of a2 is 2, and the same goes for b2, while
in 2ab, we have ab=a1b1, and so again 1+1=2.
 (a+b)3=a3+3a2b+3ab2+b3, and all terms are either cubic (a3 and b3), or the exponents of the variables sum
up to three: a2b and ab2 lead to 1+2=2+1=3.
So, when expanding the power of a binomial, you must count how many possible combinations you have to find
numbers i and j such that i+j=n. These numbers will be the exponents of the variables, and you will consider the
sum of aibj with some coefficients. And here comes Pascal's triangle. It tells you the coefficients of the progressive
terms in the expansions.
For example, the first line of the triangle is a simple 1. And indeed, (a+b)0=1.
The second line is 1  1. And in fact, (a+b)1=1a+1b.
The third line is 1  2  1. And as we've seen above,
(a+b)2=1a2+  2ab +1b2.
And so on: if you look above, you have that the coefficients of the cubic expansion are 1  3  3  1, which is exactly
the fourth line of the triangle.

Consider the 3rd power of 

On multiplying out and simplifying like terms we come up with the results:

Note that each term is a combination of a and b and the sum of the exponents are equal to 3 for each terms. The
degree of each term is 3.
Thus, if we expand   the question is, what are the coefficients?
These coefficients are called binomial coefficients. In the expansion of   the binomial coefficients are
1   3   3   1. Note that there is a "left to right" and "right to left" symmetry to the numbers. Theses coefficients can
be obtained by the use of Pascal's Triangle

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