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Week 7 - The Binomial Theorem

The document discusses the binomial theorem, which provides a formula for expanding binomial expressions of the form (a + b)^n. It explains that each term will have the form nCr * a^r * b^(n-r), where nCr represents the binomial coefficient calculated from Pascal's triangle. Pascal's triangle allows us to determine the coefficient of each term by finding the values along certain rows and columns. The binomial theorem is useful for expanding higher-order binomials without having to repeatedly use the FOIL method.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
391 views15 pages

Week 7 - The Binomial Theorem

The document discusses the binomial theorem, which provides a formula for expanding binomial expressions of the form (a + b)^n. It explains that each term will have the form nCr * a^r * b^(n-r), where nCr represents the binomial coefficient calculated from Pascal's triangle. Pascal's triangle allows us to determine the coefficient of each term by finding the values along certain rows and columns. The binomial theorem is useful for expanding higher-order binomials without having to repeatedly use the FOIL method.

Uploaded by

Jeff Lacasandile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Binomial

Theorem
By iTutor.com
T- 1-855-694-8886
Email- [email protected]
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.
– 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.
 Example: 4! = 4  3  2  1 = 24
– Special cases: 0! = 1 and 1! = 1, to avoid division by zero in the
next formula.
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 • 1) 7•6•5• 4
35
(4 • 3 • 2 • 1) • (3 • 2 • 1) 4 • 3 • 2 •1
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.
(The first row is named row 0).
Row 5 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...
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! n!
n C0 1 n Cn 1
n 0 ! 0! n! 0! n n ! n! 0! n!

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


n! n n 1! n! n n 1!
n C1 n n Cn 1 n
n 1 ! 1! n 1 ! 1! n n 1 ! n 1! 1! n 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)
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 1C0 1C1

n=2 2C0 2C1 2C2

n=3 3C0 3C1 3C2 3C3

n=4 4C0 4C1 4C2 4C3 4C4

n=5 5C0 5C1 5C2 5C3 5C4 5C5

n=6 6C0 6C1 6C2 6C3 6C4 6C5 6C6


 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 10


0C

n=1 110 1C
1C 11C
11
r=n, nCr=1
n=2 1 0112C
2C 2
2C 1C
1 12 12C
22

r=1, nCr=n n=3 1 10131C


3C 33
C
131 33C
C
3C
3 222131C
13C
33

r=(n-1), nCr=n n=4 1 10141C


4C 44
C
141 44C
CC
4 222 44C
C
4C
4 333141C
14C
44

n=5 110151C
5C 5C
5151 55C
5C
222 55C
5C
333 55C
5C
5 44151C
4 15C
55

n=6 1 10161C
6C 66
C
161 66C
CC
6 222 66C
CC
6 333 66C
CC
6 444 66C
C
6C
6 555161C
16C
66
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 6 4 1

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

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


The Binomial Theorem
( x y)n x n nx n 1 y  nCr x n r y r  nxy n 1 y n
n!
with nCr
(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 r n r
n!
ab or arbn r

n r 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.


(x 4 2)3 3 C 0
(x 4 3
) C
3 1
( x 4 2
) (2) 3 C 2
(x 4
)( 2) 2
3 C3
(2) 3

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

x12 6 x8 12 x 4 8
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 C7
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.
Proof of Binomial Theorem
 Binomial theorem for any positive integer n,
n n
a b c0an n
c1a n 1b nc2an 2b2 ........ ncnbn
Proof
The proof is obtained by applying principle of mathematical
induction.
Step: 1 Let the given statement be
n n
f (n) : a b c0an n
c1an 1b nc2an 2b2 ........ ncnbn
Check the result for n = 1 we have
1 1
f (1) : a b c0a1 1c1a1 1b1 a b
Thus Result is true for n =1
Step: 2 Let us assume that result is true for n = k
k k
f (k ) : a b c0ak k
c1ak 1b k c2ak 2b2 ........ k ck bk
Step: 3 We shall prove that f (k + 1) is also true,
k 1 k 1
f (k 1) : a b c0ak 1 k 1
c1ak b k 1
c2ak 1b2 ........ k 1ck 1bk 1

Now,
k 1
a b (a b)( a b) k
k
a b c0 a k k
c1a k 1b k c2 a k 2b 2 ........ k
ck b k
From Step 2

k
c0 a k 1 k
c1a k b k c2 a k 1b 2 ........ k ck ab k
k
c0 a k b k c1a k 1b 2 ........ k ck 1ab k k
ck b k 1

k
c0 a k 1 k
c1 k
c0 a k b k
c2 k
c1 a k 1b 2 .....
k k
... ck ck 1 ab k k
ck b k 1

k 1
by using c0 1, k cr k
cr 1
k
cr , and k ck 1 k 1
ck 1
k 1
c0 a k 1 k 1
c1a k b k 1
c2 a k 1b 2 ........ k 1
ck ab k k 1
ck 1b k 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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