Panpac Additional Mathematics

Chapter 6 Binomial Theorem

Exercise 6.1

1. Expand each of the following binomials, using the Pascal’s triangle.

(a) (1  2x)4 (b) (1 + 3x)5 (c) (1  ax)6

2. Show that (1 + x )5  (1  x )5 = 10 x + 20x x + 2x2 x . Hence, deduce the

value of (1 + 2 )5  (1  2 )5.

3. Find the first four terms, in ascending powers of x, in the following expansions.
(a) (1 + x)10 (b) (1  x)12 (c) (1  2x)8
(d) (1 + 2x) 9
(e) (1  3x) 8
(f) (1 + x2)9
16 8
 1 3  2x 
1  x   1 
(g) (1  2x2)7 (h) 2 (i)  y 

4. Find, in ascending powers of x, the first three terms in the expansion of

(a) (1 + 4x)6, (b) (1  2x)14.
Hence, find the first three terms in the expansion of (1 + 4x)6(1  2x)14.

8
 1 
 1  x
5. Obtain the binomial expansion of (2  x)  2  in ascending powers of
x as far as the term in x3. Use your result to estimate the value of 1.9 × (1.05)8.

6. Find the coefficient of x3 and of x6 in the expansion of

10
 x2 
1  
(a) (1  3x)8, (b) (1 + 2x)12, (c)  4 .

7. (a) In the expansion of (1  2x)8, the coefficient of x3 is m times the coefficient of x2.
Evaluate m.
(b) Find the coefficient of x22 in the expansion of (1  3x)(1 + x3)10.

8. (a) Find the ratio of the coefficients of the 4th and 6th terms in the expansion of
(1 + 2x)16.

9. Find, in ascending powers of x, the expansions of (1  x)6 and (1 + 2x)6 as far as the
terms in x3. Hence, expand (1 + x  2x2)6 up to the terms in x3.

10. When (1  x)(1 + ax)6 is expanded as far as the term in x2, the result is 1 + bx2.
Find the value of a and of b.

11. Expand (1  x)4. Hence find S if

S = (1  x3)4  4(1  x3)3 + 6(1  x3)2  4(1  x3) + 1.

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Panpac Additional Mathematics

Exercise 6.2

1. Expand the following binomials.

(a) (2  x)3 (b) (x + 2y)3 (c) (x2  3)4
6
 1
 2  
(d) (3  2x)4 (e) (2 + x2)5 (f)  2x

2. Find, in ascending powers of x, the first four terms in the expansion of

5 8
 1   1 2
 4  x   2 x 
(a) (2 + 3x)6 (b)  2 (c)  2 x
10 12 18
 1  1 2 1 2
 2  x   x    x 
(d) 2 (e) 2 (f) x

7
 x
 2  
3. Obtain, in ascending powers of x, the first four terms in the expansion of 2 .
Hence, find the value of (1.995) correct to 4 decimal places.
7

3
4. Find the non-zero values of a and b for which (2x  a) = 8x  bx + 2 bx  a3.
3 3 2

5. Find the first three terms, in ascending powers of x, in the expansion of (1  2x)9
and of (2 + x)5. Hence, expand (1  2x)9(2 + x)5 up to the term in x2.

6. Find the indicated term in each of the following expansions.

(a) (2 + x)10, 7th term (b) (3x  2)9, 4th term
12
 1 
 x  2 
(c) (y  2x)10, 5th term (d) 2x , middle term

10
 3 2
 x  2 
7. In the expansion of  x , find
1
(a) the term in x , 10
(b) the coefficient of x 5 , (c) the constant term.

5
1 
  2 x
8. Expand 2 in ascending powers of x up to the term in x3. If the coefficient of x2
1 
5 13
  2 x 
in the expansion of (1 + ax + 3x2)  2  is 2 , find the coefficient of x3.

9. In the expansion of (1 + x)(a  bx)12, where ab ≠ 0, the coefficient of x8 is zero.

a
Find in its simplest form the value of the ratio b .

10. In the expansion of (2  ax)8, where a is a positive constant, the coefficient of x2 is 112.
Find the value of a and the coefficient of x3.

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Panpac Additional Mathematics

11. Obtain, in descending powers of x, the first four terms in the expansion of (2x  1)6.
Hence, find the coefficient of x5 in the expansion of (2x  1)6(x2  2x + 3).

9
 3
 x  
12. (a) Find the coefficient of x in the expansion of 4 .
7
 x
 2  
(b) Find the coefficient of x in the expansion of (3  4x)
3
2 .

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Panpac Additional Mathematics

Miscellaneous Exercise 6

1. Use a graphing software to obtain the graphs of

y = (1 + 2x)4 and y = 1 + 8x + 24x2 + 64x3 + 16x4.
Deduce from the graphs whether (1 + 2x)4 = 1 + 8x + 24x2 + 64x3 + 16x4.
Given that the binomial expansion of (1 + 2x)4  (1  2x)4 = ax + bx3, find the values of
a and b.

2. Find the coefficient of x3 in the expansion of

8 12
 x  2
 1    x  
(a)  2  , (b)  x2  .

3. Find, in ascending powers of x, the first four terms in the expansion of

(a) (1 + 3x)6, (b) (1  4x)5.
Hence, find the coefficient of x2 in the expansion of (1 + 3x)6(1  4x)5.

4. Find the term in x3 in the expansion of (1 + 5x)2(1  2x)6.

8
 2 2
 x  
5. Find the first four terms in the expansion of  x in descending powers of x.
8
 2 2
 x  
Hence, find the coefficient of x13 in the expansion of (x3 + 1)2  x .

6. Write down and simplify the expansion of (1 + p)4. Use this result to find the
expansion of (1 + x + x2)4 in ascending powers of x as far as the term in x3. Hence,
evaluate (1.11)4 to 3 significant figures.

6
 x 2
 2   2 x 
7. Expand (2  p) . Use this result to find the expansion of
6
2 in ascending
powers of x as far as the term in x .
2

8. If the coefficient of x2 in the expansion of (a  x)4 + (1 + 2x)6 is 84, calculate the

possible values of a.

9. (a) In the expansion of (2 + 3x)n, the coefficients of x3 and x4 are in the ratio 8 : 15.
Find the value of n.

1  a2 x
8

 
(b) Find, in terms of a, the coefficient of
x
in the expansion of x a  .

10. Given that the coefficients of x and x2 in the expansion of (1 + ax)6(2 + bx)5 are 112
and 80 respectively, find the integer values of a and b.

10
 1 2
1  x 
11. Find the coefficient of x6 and of x8 in the binomial expansion of  2  .

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Panpac Additional Mathematics

10
 1 2
1  x 
Hence, find the coefficient of x8 in the expansion of (2x2 + 3)  2  .

12. (a) Evaluate the coefficient of x9 in the expansion of (1  2x)(4 + x)10.

1  2 1
9

3  2 x  
(b) Evaluate the coefficient of x in the expansion of  2x .

(c) The 2nd, 3rd and 4th terms in the binomial expansion of (a + b)n, in ascending
powers of b, are denoted by p, q and r respectively. Show that
pr 2(n  2)
q = 3(n  1) . Given that p = 8, q = 24 and r = 36, evaluate n.
2

13. Obtain the binomial expansion of (2 + 3 )5 in the form a + b 3 , where a and b

are integers. State the corresponding result for the expansion of (2  3 )5 and show
that (2  3 )5 is the reciprocal of (2 + 3 )5.

14. When (1 + ax)8 is expanded in ascending powers of x, the series expansion is

A + Bx + Cx2 + 7x3 + … Find the values of a, A, B and C.

15. Given that (1 + ax)n = 1  12x + 63x2 + … , find a and n.

16. (a) Find, in ascending powers of x, the first three terms in the expansion of (2  x)7.
Hence, find the value of the constant k for which the coefficient of x2 in the
expansion of (k  x)(2  x)7 is 616.
(b) Given that the expansion of (a  x)(1 + 2x)n in ascending powers of x is
3 + 47x + bx2 + …, find the values of the constants a, n and b.

15
 2 1 
 x  3 
17. (a) Calculate the term independent of x in the binomial expansion of 2x .
(b) In the binomial expansion of (1 + kx) , where n ≥ 4 and k is a constant, the
n

coefficient of x4 is twice the coefficient of x3. Express k in terms of n.

18. (a) The coefficient of x2 in the expansion of (1 + x  2x2)(2  ax)4 is zero. Find the
positive value of a.
(b) In the expansion of (1  3x)n, the sum of the coefficients of x and x2 is 75.
Given that n is positive, find the value of n. Show that the coefficients of x4 and x2
are in the ratio 9 : 2.

19. The equation 28x6  30x4  1 = 0 has a root slightly greater than 1. By substituting
x = 1 + h and neglecting h3 and higher powers of h, find a closer approximation to this
root.

20. Using two different methods, find, the expansion of (2  3x + x2)5 in ascending powers
of x as far as the term in x2. Which method do you prefer? Why?
Project & Investigation

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Panpac Additional Mathematics

21. There are many interesting patterns and properties which can be found in the Pascal’s
triangle.

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

For example, the sum of all the binomial coefficients for n = 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 are 1, 2, 4,
8 and 16 respectively. Did you notice the pattern? Describe the pattern in words or
symbols.
What would be the sum of all the coefficients for n = 5 and n = 6? Check your results
by actually calculating these sums.

Explore and find more interesting patterns hidden in the Pascal’s triangle. Research
what others have discovered. Maybe you could unearth new patterns and properties
never witnessed by any dead or living mathematicians!

Answers

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Panpac Additional Mathematics

Exercise 6.1

1. (a) 1  8x + 24x2  32x3 + 16x4

(b) 1 + 15x + 90x2 + 270x3 + 405x4 + 243x5
(c) 1  6ax + 15a2x2  20a3x3 + 15a4x4
 6a5x5 + a6x6
2. 58 2
3. (a) 1 + 10x + 45x2 + 120x3 + …
(b) 1  12x + 66x2  220x3 + …
(c) 1  16x + 112x2  448x3 + …
(d) 1 + 18x + 144x2 + 672x3 + …
(e) 1  24x + 252x2  1512x3 + …
(f) 1 + 9x2 + 36x4 + 84x6 + …
(g) 1  14x2 + 84x4  280x6 + …
(h) 1  8x3 + 30x6  70x9 + …
16x 112x 2 448x 3
(i) 1 + y + y
2 3
+ y +…
4. (a) 1 + 24x + 240x2 + …
(b) 1  28x + 364x2 + …;
1  4x  68x2 + …
5. 2 + 7x + 10x2 + 7x3 + …; 2.807
6. (a) 1512, 20 412 (b) 1760, 59 136
7
(c) 0, 1 8
7. (a) 4 (b) 360
8. (a) 5 : 156 (b) 253
9. 1  6x + 15x  20x + …;
2 3

1 + 12x + 60x2 + 160x3 + …;

1 + 6x + 3x2  40x3 + …
1 7
10. a = 6 , b =  12
11. 1  4x + 6x2  4x3 + x4; x12

Exercise 6.2

1. (a) 8  12x + 6x2  x3

(b) x3 + 6x2y + 12xy2 + 8y3
(c) x8  12x6 + 54x4  108x2 + 81
(d) 81  216x + 216x2  96x3 + 16x4
(e) 32 + 80x2 + 80x4 + 40x6 + 10x8 + x10
96 60 20 15 3 1
(f) 64  x + x  x + 4x  8x + 64x 6
2 3 4 5

2. (a) 64 + 576x + 2160x2 + 4320x3 + …

(b) 1024  640x + 160x2  20x3 + …
1 1 7
(c) 256x  8x + 4x 2  14x + …
8 5

(d) 1024  2560x + 2880x2  1920x3 + …

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1 3 2 33 4 55 6
x x x
(e) 4096 + 512 + 512 + 128 + …
1 18 153 816
(f) x  x + x12  x 9 + …
18 15

3. (a) 128  224x + 168x2  70x3 + …;

125.776 7
4. a = 3, b = 36
5. 1  18x + 144x2 + …; 32 + 80x + 80x2 + …; 32  496x + 3248x2 + …
6. (a) 3360x6 (b)  489 888x6
7
(c) 3360x y 4 6
(d) 14 16 x6
7. (a) 3360x10 (b) 15 360 (c) 13 440
1 5 1
8. 32  8 x + 5x2  20x3 + …; 33 8
5
9. 8
1
10. a = 4 ; 28
11. 64x6  192x5 + 240x4  160x3 + …; 1216
12. (a) 10 206 (b) 882

Miscellaneous Exercise 6

2. (a) 7 (b) 1 760

3. (a) 1 + 18x + 135x + 540x3 + …
2

(b) 1  20x + 160x2  640x3 + …; 65

4. 140x3
5. x16  16x13 + 112x10  448x7 + …; 240
6. 1 + 4p + 6p2 + 4p3 + p4;
1 + 4x + 10x2 + 16x3 + …; 1.52
7. 64  192p + 240p2  160p3 + 60p4
 12p5 + p6; 64  96x + 444x2 + …
8. 2
9. (a) 8 (b) 56a7
10. a = 1, b = 1
1 3
11. 15, 13 8 , 69 8
9
12. (a) 1400 (b)  8 (c) 5
13. 362 + 209 3 ; 362  209 3
1
14. a = 2 , A = 1, B = 4, C = 7
3
15. a=2,n=8
1
16. (a) 128  448x + 672x  …; 4
2

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Panpac Additional Mathematics

(b) a = 3, n = 8, b = 320
5005 8
17. (a) 64 (b) k = n  3
18. (a) 2 (b) n = 5
19. 1.05

Worked Solution

Exercise 6.1
1. (a)

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