Binomial
Binomial
Emmanuel Djabang
Department of Mathematics
University of Ghana
February 8, 2023
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Outline
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A look at Pascal s Triangle
Expanding Binomials
Permutation and Combination
The Binomial Theorem
Applying the Binomial Theorem
Further Examples
Class Exercises
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Assumed Knowledge
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0
A look at Pascal s triangle
(a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
(a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 + b3
(a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3 b + 6a2 b2 + 4ab3 + b4
Note that:
the expansion of (a + b)2 has three terms and in each term the
sum of the indices is 2
the expansion of (a + b)3 has four terms and in each term the sum
of the indices is 3.
the expansion of (a + b)4 has five terms and in each term the sum
of the indices is 4.
We conclude that the expansion of (a + b)n has n + 1 terms and in
each term the sum of the indices is n.
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0
A look at Pascal s triangle
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0
A look at Pascal s triangle
(1 + x)0 = 1
(1 + x)1 = 1 + x
(1 + x)2 = 1 + 2x + x 2
(1 + x)3 = 1 + 3x + 3x 2 + x 3
(1 + x)4 = 1 + 4x + 6x 2 + 4x 3 + x 4
(1 + x)5 = 1 + 5x + 10x 2 + 10x 3 + 5x 4 + x 5
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0
A look at Pascal s triangle
Example
Expand 1. (1 + x)6 2. (1 2x)6
Solution
1. The coefficients of (1 + x)6 are given in the sixth row of Pascal s
0
triangle:
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Expanding Binomials
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Expanding Binomials
Exercise
(a) How many terms are there in the expansion of
(a + b + c)(d + e)?
Remark
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Expansions and the notation n cr
Example
Find the coefficient of x 2 in the expansion of (2x 1)(3x + 4)(5x 6).
Solution
take the terms containing x from any two of the factors and the
constant from the remaining factor.
multiply them together to obtain a term containing x 2 in the
expansion.
do this in all possible ways and add them to find the required
coefficient.
The required coefficient is
2 ⇥ 3 ⇥ ( 6) + 3 ⇥ 5 ⇥ ( 1) + 2 ⇥ 5 ⇥ 4 = 36 15 + 40 = 11.
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Permutations and Combinations
Definition
The number of permutations of r distinct objects chosen from n objects
is denoted by, n Pr and defined by
n n!
Pr = n(n 1) · · · n r +1= .
n r!
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Permutations and Combinations
Example
List all the permutations of the letters in the word CAT .
Example
Seven runners are competing in a race. In how many ways can the
gold, silver and bronze medals be awarded?
Solution
The gold medal can be awarded in 7 ways. The silver medal can then
be awarded in 6 ways. The bronze medal can then be awarded in 5
ways.
The total number of ways of awarding the medals is 7 ⇥ 6 ⇥ 5 = 210
ways.
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Permutations and Combinations
Definition
The number of ways of choosing r objects from n objects is denoted by
n C and is defined by
r
nP n!
n r
Cr = =
r! (n r )!r !
Example
In how many ways can you choose two people from a group of seven
people?
Solution
76
There are 7 C2 = 2 = 21 ways of choosing two people from seven.
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Permutations and Combinations
Example
There are ten people in a basketball squad. Find how may ways the
starting five can be chosen from the squad:
Solution
There are 10 C5 = 10 ⇥ 9 ⇥ 8 ⇥ 7 ⇥ 65 ⇥ 4 ⇥ 3 ⇥ 2 ⇥ 1 = 252 ways of
choosing the starting five.
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The binomial theorem
Definition
For each positive integer n,
(a + b)n = an +n C1 an 1
b +n C2 an 2 2
b + · · · + nCn 1 ab
n 1
+ bn .
n
X
n n
(a + b) = Cr an r br .
r =1
(1 + x)n =n C0 +n C1 x +n C2 x 2 + · · · +n Cr x r + · · · +n Cn r x n r
+n Cn x n .
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The Binomial Theorem
Example
Use the binomial theorem to find the coefficients in the expansion
(a + b)7
Solution
The coefficients are
! ! ! ! ! !
7 7 7 7 7 7
1, , , , , , , 1
1 2 3 4 5 6
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The Binomial Theorem
Remark
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Pascal s triangle is the easier and quicker way of finding
coefficients provided n is not too large.
If n is large or not known, then the Binomial theorem must be
used.
The theorem is essential in more advanced work when n may not
be a positive integer.
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The Binomial Theorem
Example
Find the first four terms in the expansion (x 2)12
Solution
Let a = x, b = 2 and n = 12. The first four terms are
! ! !
12 12 12
x 12 + 11
x ( 2) + 10
x ( 2) + 2
x 9 ( 2)3
1 2 3
12 ⇥ 11 10 12 ⇥ 11 ⇥ 10 9
= x 12 + 12x 11 ( 2) + x (4) + x ( 8)
1⇥2 1⇥2⇥3
Class Exercise
1 10
1. Find the 5th and 6th terms in the expansion (2x 2) .
1 10
2. Find the term independent of x in the expansion (2x x) .
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