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Pascal's Triangle

Expanding a binomial expression using Pascal's Triangle involves the following steps: 1) Understand the Binomial Theorem which states the formula for expanding (a + b)^n. 2) Create Pascal's Triangle by adding the numbers above to generate each new row. 3) Determine the row needed based on the power n being raised to. 4) Write the expansion using the coefficients from that row of Pascal's Triangle. 5) Simplify the expanded expression by raising terms to the appropriate powers.

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68 views1 page

Pascal's Triangle

Expanding a binomial expression using Pascal's Triangle involves the following steps: 1) Understand the Binomial Theorem which states the formula for expanding (a + b)^n. 2) Create Pascal's Triangle by adding the numbers above to generate each new row. 3) Determine the row needed based on the power n being raised to. 4) Write the expansion using the coefficients from that row of Pascal's Triangle. 5) Simplify the expanded expression by raising terms to the appropriate powers.

Uploaded by

sethwer89
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 DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WRITE ABOUT HOW TO SOLVE AN EXPANSION USING PASCAL'S TRIANGLE

Expanding a binomial expression using Pascal's Triangle is a powerful and systematic method that
simplifies the process of raising a binomial to a particular power. Pascal's Triangle is a triangular
array of numbers where each number is the sum of the two numbers directly above it. It's a valuable
tool for various mathematical calculations, including binomial expansions. To solve an expansion
using Pascal's Triangle, follow these steps:

1. Understand the Binomial Theorem: Before diving into the actual expansion, it's important to
understand the Binomial Theorem, which states that for any positive integer n:

(a + b)^n = C(n,0) * a^n * b^0 + C(n,1) * a^(n-1) * b^1 + C(n,2) * a^(n-2) * b^2 + ... + C(n,n) * a^0 *
b^n

Here, C(n, k) represents the binomial coefficient, which can be found using Pascal's Triangle.

2. Create Pascal's Triangle: You can generate Pascal's Triangle by starting with a row of 1s and
then constructing each subsequent row by adding the two numbers above each number. It
typically starts like this:

1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 4 6 4 1 ...

3. Determine the Row of Pascal's Triangle: The row of Pascal's Triangle you need for your
expansion corresponds to the power (n) you want to raise the binomial (a + b) to. For
example, if you want to expand (a + b)^4, you'll use the fifth row of Pascal's Triangle
(counting from row 0).

4. Write Down the Expansion: Now that you have the appropriate row from Pascal's Triangle,
you can write down the expanded expression. For (a + b)^4, you would use the fifth row of
Pascal's Triangle, which is "1 4 6 4 1." This corresponds to the coefficients of the terms in the
expansion.

(a + b)^4 = 1a^4 + 4a^3b + 6a^2b^2 + 4ab^3 + 1b^4

5. Simplify: Finally, simplify the terms in the expansion by raising a and b to the appropriate
powers and multiplying by their respective coefficients.

(a + b)^4 = a^4 + 4a^3b + 6a^2b^2 + 4ab^3 + b^4

This method can be applied to expand any binomial expression quickly and accurately. It's especially
useful for larger powers, where manually expanding the expression can become quite cumbersome.
Pascal's Triangle provides an organized and efficient way to find the coefficients for each term in the
binomial expansion.

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