UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, ABEOKUTA,DEPARTMENT OF

MATHEMATICS

MTS 105-20011/2012 First Semester Lecture note;

COURSE TITLE: Algebra

TOPICS: Binomial Theorem,Binomial Series,Binomial Expansion and

Applications

A binomial expression is one that contains two terms connected by a plus or

minus sign.Thus (p+q), (a+x)2 , (2x+y)3 are examples of binomial expression.

Note:

In order to solve (a + x)n :

1. a decreases in power moving from left to right

2. x increases in power moving from left to right

3. The coefficients of each term of the expansions are symmetrical about

the middle coefficient when n is even and symmetrical about the two
middle coefficients when n is odd.

4. The coefficients are shown separately below and this arrangement is

known as as pascal triangle triangle.A coefficient of a term may be ob-

tained by adding the two adjacent coefficient immediately above in the

previous row. This is shown by the triangle below,where for example,

1 + 3 = 4, 10 + 5 = 15, and so on.
 Pascal triangle method is used for expansion of the form (a + x)n for
integer values of n less than about 8.

n=0: 1

n=1: 1 1

n=2: 1 2 1
n=3: 1 3 3 1

n=4: 1 4 6 4 1
n=5: 1 5 10 10 5 1

n=6: 1 6 15 20 15 6 1

n=7: 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
The numbers in the n-th row represent the binomial coefficients in the

expansion of (a + x)n .

Example:
Use the pascal’s triangle method to determine the expansion of (a + x)7 .

Solution
(a + x)7 = a7 + 7a6 x + 12a5 x2 + 35a4 x3 + 35a3 a4 + 21a2 x5 + 7ax6 + x7

Example:

Determine,using pascal’s triangle method,the expansion of (2p − 3q)5 .

Solution

(2p−3q)5 = (2p)5 +5(2p)4 (−3q)+10(2p)3 (−3q)2 +10(2p)2 (−3q)3 +5(2p)(−3q)4 +

(−3q)5

= 32p5 − 240p4 q + 720p3 q 2 − 1080p2 q 3 + 810pq 4 − 243q 5

2
 The binomial Series

The binomial series or binomial theorem is a formula for raising binomial ex-

pression ton any power without lengthy multiplication.The general binomial

expansion of (a + x)n is given by

n(n − 1) n−2 2 n(n − 1)(n − 2) n−3 3

(a + x)n = an + nan−1 x + a x + a x + ... + xn
2! 3!
n
X n!
= (nr )an−r xr , (nr ) =
r=0 r!(n − r)!
where for example,3! denotes 3 × 2 × 1 and is termed factorial 3.

With the binomial theorem,n may be a fraction,a decimal fraction, a positive

or a negative integer.
Note:

n(n−1)(n−2)...(n−r+1)
1. n Cr = (nr ) = r!(n−r)!
is called binomial coefficient.

2. Since n Cr =n Cn−r ,it follows that the coefficients in the binomial ex-

pansion are symmetrical about the middle. There is one middle term

( i.e the n2 -th term ) if n is even,and two middle terms (i.e the n−1
2
-th
n+1
and 2
-th term). If n is odd.

3. The term n Cr an−r xr is the (r + 1)-th term.

3
In the general expansion of (a + x)n ,it is noted that the 4th term is

n(n − 1)(n − 2) n−3 3

a x
3!
n(n−1)(n−2)...n−(r−2)
The rth term of the expansion is (r−1)!

If a = 1 in the binomial expansion of (a + x)n then

n(n − 1) 2 n(n − 1)(n − 2) 3

(1 + x)n = 1 + nx + x + x + ...
2! 3!

which is valid for −1 < x < 1.

Example:

Use the binomial series to determine the expansion of (2 + x)7

Solution:

The binomial expansion is given by

n(n − 1) n−2 2 n(n − 1)(n − 2) n−3 3

(a + x)n = an + nan−1 x + a x + a x + ...
2! 3!

when a = 2 and n = 7

(7)(6) 5 2 (7)(6)(5) 4 3 (7)(6)(5)(4) 3 4 (7)(6)(5)(4)(3) 2 5 (7)(6)(5)(4)

(2+x)7 = 27 +7(2)6 x+ 2x+ 2x+ 2x+ 2x+
(2)(1) 3! 4! 5! 6!
= 128 + 448x + 672x2 + 560x3 + 280x4 + 84x5 + 14x6 + x7

Example:
1
Expand (1+2x)3
in ascending powers of x as far as the term in x3 ,using the

binomial series.

Solution

4
Using the binomial expansion of (1 + x)n ,where n = −3 and x is replaced by
2x gives:
1
= (1 + 2x)−3
(1 + 2x)3
(−3)(−4) (−3)(−4)(−5)
= 1 + (−3)(2x) + (2x)2 + (2x)3 + ...
2! 3!
= 1 − 6x + 24x2 − 80x3 + ...

The expansion is valid provided |2x| < 1

1
i.e |x| < 2
or − 12 < x < 1
2

Example:
Expand √ 1 in ascending power of t as far as the term in t3 .State the limit
1−2t

of t for which the expression is valid.

Solution

1 1
√ = (1 − 2t)− 2
1 − 2t
1 (− 12 )(− 32 ) 2 (− 12 )(− 23 )(− 25 )
= 1 + (− )(−2t) + (−2t) + (−2t)3 + ...
2 2! 3!
Using the expansion for (1 + x)n

3 5
= 1 + t + t2 + t3 + ...
2 2
1
The expansion is valid when |2t| < 1, i.e |t| < 2
or − 12 < t < 1
2

Example:
√
1+2x
Express √
3
1−3x
as a power series as far as the term in x2 .State the range of

5
values of x for which the series is convergent.
Solution:

√
1 + 2x 1 1
√ = (1 + 2x) 2 (1 − 3x)− 3
3
1 − 3x
1 1 ( 1 )(− 12 )
(1 = 2x) 2 = 1 + ( )2x + 2 (2x)2 + ...
2 2!
x2
=1+x− + ...
2
which is valid for |2x| < 1 i.e |x| < 12 .

− 31 1 (− 13 )(− 43 )
(1 − 3x) = 1 + (− )(−3x) + (−3x)2 + ...
2 2!

= 1 + x + 2x2 + ...

1
which is valid for |3x| < 1, i.e |x| < 3

Hence
√
1 + 2x 1 1
√ = (1 + 2x) 2 (1 − 3x)− 3
3
1 − 3x
x2
= (1 + x − + ...)(1 + x + 2x2 + ...)
2
x2
= 1 + x + 2x2 + xx2 − + ...
2
neglecting terms of higher power than 2

5
1 + 2x + x2
2

The series is convergent if − 13 < x < 1

3

Note:

6
1. Binomial theorem when n is a positive integer
If a, b are real numbers and n is a positive integer,then

n(n − 1) n−2 2 n(n − 1)(n − 2) n−3 3

(a+b)n = an +nan−1 b+ a b + a b +...+bn
2! 3!

or more concisely in terms of the binomial coefficient

n!
(nr ) =
(n − r)!r!

we have
n
X
(a + b)n = (nr )an−r br
r=0

where

(n0 ) = (nn ) = 1

2. General form of the binomial theorem when α is arbitrary real number

If a and b are real numbers such that |b/a| < 1 and α is an arbitrary
real number,then

α b α(α − 1) b 2 α(α − 1)(α − 2) b 3

(a+b)α = aα (1+b/a)α = aα (1+ ( )+ ( )+ ( ) +...)
1! a 2! a 3! a

The series on the right only terminates after a finite number of terms if

α is a positive integer in which case the result reduces to the one just

given.If α is a negative integer,or a non integral real number,the expres-

sion on the right becomes an infinite series that diverges if 1 < |a| > 1

7
Example
Expand (3 + x)− 12 by the binomial theorem,stating for what values of x the

series converges.

Solution
b
Setting a
= 13 x in the general form of the binomial theorem gives:

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 3
(3 + x)− 2 = 3− 2 (1 + x)− 2 = √ (1 − x + x2 − x + ...)
3 3 6 24 432

The series only converges if | 13 x| < 1 and so it is converges provided |x| < 3.