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Pascal'striangle
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inmathematics,Pascal'striangleisatriangulararrayofthebinomial
coefficients.IntheWesternworld,itisnamedafterFrenchmathematician
BlaisePascal,althoughothermathematiciansstudieditcenturiesbeforehim
inIndia,[1]Persia(Iran),China,Germany,andItaly.[2]
TherowsofPascal'striangle(sequenceA007318inOEIS)are
conventionallyenumeratedstartingwithrown=0atthetop(the0throw).
Theentriesineachrowarenumberedfromtheleftbeginningwithk=0and
areusuallystaggeredrelativetothenumbersintheadjacentrows.Having
theindicesofbothrowsandcolumnsstartatzeromakesitpossibletostate
thatthebinomialcoefficient appearsinthenthrowandkthcolumnof
RowszerotofiveofPascal'striangle
Pascal'striangle.Asimpleconstructionofthetriangleproceedsinthe
followingmanner:Inrow0,thetopmostrow,theentryis
(the
entryisinthezerothrowandzerothcolumn).Then,toconstructtheelementsofthefollowingrows,addthenumber
aboveandtotheleftwiththenumberaboveandtotherightofagivenpositiontofindthenewvaluetoplaceinthat
position.Ifeitherthenumbertotherightorleftisnotpresent,substituteazeroinitsplace.Forexample,theinitial
numberinthefirst(oranyother)rowis1(thesumof0and1),whereasthenumbers1and3inthethirdrowareadded
toproducethenumber4inthefourthrow.
ThisconstructionisrelatedtothebinomialcoefficientsbyPascal'srule,whichsaysthatif

then

foranynonnegativeintegernandanyintegerkbetween0andn.[3]
Pascal'strianglehashigherdimensionalgeneralizations.ThethreedimensionalversioniscalledPascal'spyramidor
Pascal'stetrahedron,whilethegeneralversionsarecalledPascal'ssimplices.

Contents
1
2
3
4
5

6
7
8
9

History
Binomialexpansions
Combinations
Relationtobinomialdistributionandconvolutions
Patternsandproperties
5.1 Rows
5.2 Diagonals
5.3 Calculatingarowordiagonalbyitself
5.4 Overallpatternsandproperties
5.5 Constructionasmatrixexponential
5.6 Numberofelementsofpolytopes
5.7 Fouriertransformofsin(x)n+1/x
5.8 Elementarycellularautomaton
Extensions
Seealso
References
Externallinks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_triangle

Eachnumberisthesumofthetwo
directlyaboveit.

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History
ThepatternofnumbersthatformsPascal'strianglewasknownwellbefore
Pascal'stime.Pascalinnovatedmanypreviouslyunattestedusesofthetriangle's
numbers,useshedescribedcomprehensivelyinwhatisperhapstheearliest
knownmathematicaltreatisetobespeciallydevotedtothetriangle,hisTraitdu
trianglearithmtique(1653).Centuriesbefore,discussionofthenumbershad
ariseninthecontextofIndianstudiesofcombinatoricsandofbinomialnumbers
andGreeks'studyoffiguratenumbers.[4]
Fromlatercommentary,itappearsthatthebinomialcoefficientsandtheadditive
formulaforgeneratingthem,
,wereknowntoPingalain
orbeforethe2ndcenturyBC.[5][6]WhilePingala'sworkonlysurvivesin
fragments,thecommentatorVarhamihira,around505,gaveacleardescription
oftheadditiveformula,[6]andamoredetailedexplanationofthesamerulewas
givenbyHalayudha,around975.Halayudhaalsoexplainedobscurereferencesto
Meruprastaara,the"StaircaseofMountMeru",givingthefirstsurviving
descriptionofthearrangementofthesenumbersintoatriangle.[6][7]In
approximately850,theJainmathematicianMahvragaveadifferentformulafor
thebinomialcoefficients,usingmultiplication,equivalenttothemodernformula
.[6]In1068,fourcolumnsofthefirstsixteenrowsweregivenby
themathematicianBhattotpala,whowasthefirstrecordedmathematicianto
equatetheadditiveandmultiplicativeformulasforthesenumbers.[6]
Ataroundthesametime,itwasdiscussedinPersia(Iran)bythePersian
mathematician,AlKaraji(9531029).[8]ItwaslaterrepeatedbythePersian
poetastronomermathematicianOmarKhayym(10481131)thusthetriangleis
referredtoastheKhayyamPascaltriangleorKhayyamtriangleinIran.
Severaltheoremsrelatedtothetrianglewereknown,includingthebinomial
theorem.Khayyamusedamethodoffindingnthrootsbasedonthebinomial
expansion,andthereforeonthebinomialcoefficients.[9]

YangHui(Pascal's)triangle,as
depictedbytheChineseusingrod
numerals,appearsinthisChinese
documentbyChuShikie,dated1303.
Thetitlereads"TheOldMethod
ChartoftheSevenMultiplying
Squares"(simplifiedChinese:
traditionalChinese:
,thefourthcharacterinthe
documentisarchaic).

Pascal'strianglewasknowninChinaintheearly11thcenturythroughthework
oftheChinesemathematicianJiaXian(Chinese:)(10101070).Inthe13th
century,YangHui(Chinese:)(12381298)presentedthetriangleandhence
itisstillcalledYangHui'striangle(Chinese:)inChina.[10]
Inthewest,thebinomialcoefficientswerecalculatedbyGersonidesintheearly
14thcentury,usingthemultiplicativeformulaforthem.[6]PetrusApianus(1495
1552)publishedthefulltriangleonthefrontispieceofhisbookonbusiness
calculationsin1527.ThisisthefirstrecordofthetriangleinEurope.[11]Michael
BlaisePascal'sversionofthetriangle
Stifelpublishedaportionofthetriangle(fromthesecondtothemiddlecolumn
ineachrow)in1544,describingitasatableoffiguratenumbers.[6]InItaly,
Pascal'striangleisreferredtoasTartaglia'striangle,namedfortheItalianalgebraistNiccolFontanaTartaglia(1500
1577),whopublishedsixrowsofthetrianglein1556.[6]GerolamoCardano,also,publishedthetriangleaswellasthe
additiveandmultiplicativerulesforconstructingitin1570.[6]
Pascal'sTraitdutrianglearithmtique(TreatiseonArithmeticalTriangle)waspublishedposthumouslyin1665.In
this,Pascalcollectedseveralresultsthenknownaboutthetriangle,andemployedthemtosolveproblemsinprobability
theory.ThetrianglewaslaternamedafterPascalbyPierreRaymonddeMontmort(1708)whocalledit"TabledeM.
Pascalpourlescombinaisons"(French:TableofMr.Pascalforcombinations)andAbrahamdeMoivre(1730)who
calledit"TriangulumArithmeticumPASCALIANUM"(Latin:Pascal'sArithmeticTriangle),whichbecamethemodern
Westernname.[12]
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Binomialexpansions
Pascal'striangledeterminesthecoefficientswhichariseinbinomial
expansions.Foranexample,considertheexpansion
(x+y)2=x2+2xy+y2=1x2y0+2x1y1+1x0y2.
NoticethecoefficientsarethenumbersinrowtwoofPascal's
triangle:1,2,1.Ingeneral,whenabinomiallikex+yisraisedtoa
positiveintegerpowerwehave:
(x+y)n=a0xn+a1xn1y+a2xn2y2+...+an1xyn1+anyn,
wherethecoefficientsaiinthisexpansionarepreciselythenumbers
onrownofPascal'striangle.Inotherwords,

Visualisationofbinomialexpansionuptothe4th
power

Thisisthebinomialtheorem.
NoticethattheentirerightdiagonalofPascal'strianglecorrespondstothecoefficientofyninthesebinomialexpansions,
whilethenextdiagonalcorrespondstothecoefficientofxyn1andsoon.
ToseehowthebinomialtheoremrelatestothesimpleconstructionofPascal'striangle,considertheproblemof
calculatingthecoefficientsoftheexpansionof(x+1)n+1intermsofthecorrespondingcoefficientsof(x+1)n(settingy
=1forsimplicity).Supposethenthat

Now

Thetwosummationscanbereorganizedasfollows:

SixrowsPascal'striangleasBinomial
Coefficients

(becauseofhowraisingapolynomialtoapowerworks,a0=an=1).
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Wenowhaveanexpressionforthepolynomial(x+1)n+1intermsofthecoefficientsof(x+1)n(thesearetheais),
whichiswhatweneedifwewanttoexpressalineintermsofthelineaboveit.Recallthatallthetermsinadiagonal
goingfromtheupperlefttothelowerrightcorrespondtothesamepowerofx,andthattheatermsarethecoefficients
ofthepolynomial(x+1)n,andwearedeterminingthecoefficientsof(x+1)n+1.Now,foranygiveninot0orn+1,the
coefficientofthexiterminthepolynomial(x+1)n+1isequaltoai(thefigureaboveandtotheleftofthefiguretobe
determined,sinceitisonthesamediagonal)+ai1(thefiguretotheimmediaterightofthefirstfigure).Thisisindeed
thesimpleruleforconstructingPascal'strianglerowbyrow.
Itisnotdifficulttoturnthisargumentintoaproof(bymathematicalinduction)ofthebinomialtheorem.Since
(a+b)n=bn(a/b+1)n,thecoefficientsareidenticalintheexpansionofthegeneralcase.
Aninterestingconsequenceofthebinomialtheoremisobtainedbysettingbothvariablesxandyequaltoone.Inthis
case,weknowthat(1+1)n=2n,andso

Inotherwords,thesumoftheentriesinthenthrowofPascal'striangleisthenthpowerof2.

Combinations
AsecondusefulapplicationofPascal'striangleisinthecalculationofcombinations.Forexample,thenumberof
combinationsofnthingstakenkatatime(callednchoosek)canbefoundbytheequation

ButthisisalsotheformulaforacellofPascal'striangle.Ratherthanperformingthecalculation,onecansimplylookup
theappropriateentryinthetriangle.Forexample,supposeabasketballteamhas10playersandwantstoknowhow
manywaysthereareofselecting8.Providedwehavethefirstrowandthefirstentryinarownumbered0,theansweris
entry8inrow10:45.Thatis,thesolutionof10choose8is45.

Relationtobinomialdistributionandconvolutions
Whendividedby2n,thenthrowofPascal'strianglebecomesthebinomialdistributioninthesymmetriccasewherep
=1/2.Bythecentrallimittheorem,thisdistributionapproachesthenormaldistributionasnincreases.Thiscanalsobe
seenbyapplyingStirling'sformulatothefactorialsinvolvedintheformulaforcombinations.
Thisisrelatedtotheoperationofdiscreteconvolutionintwoways.First,polynomialmultiplicationexactlycorresponds
todiscreteconvolution,sothatrepeatedlyconvolvingthesequence{...,0,0,1,1,0,0,...}withitselfcorrespondsto
takingpowersof1+x,andhencetogeneratingtherowsofthetriangle.Second,repeatedlyconvolvingthedistribution
functionforarandomvariablewithitselfcorrespondstocalculatingthedistributionfunctionforasumofnindependent
copiesofthatvariablethisisexactlythesituationtowhichthecentrallimittheoremapplies,andhenceleadstothe
normaldistributioninthelimit.

Patternsandproperties
Pascal'strianglehasmanypropertiesandcontainsmanypatternsofnumbers.

Rows
Thesumoftheelementsofasinglerowistwicethesumoftherowprecedingit.Forexample,row0(thetopmost
row)hasavalueof1,row1hasavalueof2,row2hasavalueof4,andsoforth.Thisisbecauseeveryitemina
rowproducestwoitemsinthenextrow:oneleftandoneright.Thesumoftheelementsofrownisequalto2n.
Takingtheproductoftheelementsineachrow,thesequenceofproducts(sequenceA001142inOEIS)isrelated
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tothebaseofthenaturallogarithm,e.[13][14]Specifically,definethe
sequencesnasfollows:

Then,theratioofsuccessiverowproductsis

andtheratiooftheseratiosis

Therighthandsideoftheaboveequationtakestheformofthelimit
definitionofe

Eachframerepresentsarowin
Pascal'striangle.Eachcolumnof
pixelsisanumberinbinarywiththe
leastsignificantbitatthebottom.
Lightpixelsrepresentonesandthe
darkpixelsarezeroes.

Thevalueofarow,ifeachentryisconsideredadecimalplace(andnumberslargerthan9carriedover
accordingly)isapowerof11(11n,forrown).Thus,inrow2,1,2,1becomes112,while1,5,10,10,5,1
inrowfivebecomes(aftercarrying)161,051,whichis115.Thispropertyisexplainedbysettingx=10inthe
binomialexpansionof(x+1)n,andadjustingvaluestothedecimalsystem.Butxcanbechosentoallowrowsto
representvaluesinanybase.
Inbase3:1213=42(16)

1,3,3,121013=43(64)
Inbase9:1219=102(100)
13319=103(1000)
1,5,10,10,5,11621519=105(100000)

Inparticular(seepreviousproperty),forx=1placevalueremainsconstant(1place=1).Thusentriescan
simplybeaddedininterpretingthevalueofarow.
SomeofthenumbersinPascal'strianglecorrelatetonumbersinLozani'striangle.
Thesumofthesquaresoftheelementsofrownequalsthemiddleelementofrow2n.Forexample,
12+42+62+42+12=70.Ingeneralform:

Anotherinterestingpatternisthatonanyrown,whereniseven,themiddletermminusthetermtwospotstothe
leftequalsaCatalannumber,specificallythe(n/2+1)thCatalannumber.Forexample:onrow4,61=5,
whichisthe3rdCatalannumber,and4/2+1=3.
AnotherinterestingpropertyofPascal'striangleisthatinarowpwherepisaprimenumber,allthetermsinthat
rowexceptthe1saremultiplesofp.Thiscanbeproveneasily,sinceif
,thenphasnofactorssavefor1
anditself.Everyentryinthetriangleisaninteger,sothereforebydefinition
and arefactorsof .
However,thereisnopossiblewaypitselfcanshowupinthedenominator,sothereforep(orsomemultipleofit)
mustbeleftinthenumerator,makingtheentireentryamultipleofp.
Parity:Tocountoddtermsinrown,convertntobinary.Letxbethenumberof1sinthebinaryrepresentation.
Thenthenumberofoddtermswillbe2x.[15]
Everyentryinrow2n1,n0,isodd.[16]
Polarity:Yetanotherinterestingpattern,whenrowsofPascal'striangleareaddedandsubtractedtogether
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sequentially,everyrowwithamiddlenumber,meaningrowsthathaveanoddnumberofintegers,theyarealways
equal0.Example,row4is,14641,sotheformulawouldbe6(4+4)+(1+1)=0,row6is1615201561,so
theformulawouldbe20(15+15)+(6+6)(1+1)=0.SoeveryevenrowofthePascaltriangleequals0when
youtakethemiddlenumber,thensubtracttheintegersdirectlynexttothecenter,thenaddthenextintegers,then
subtract,soonandsoforthuntilyoureachtheendoftherow.

Diagonals
ThediagonalsofPascal'strianglecontainthefiguratenumbersofsimplices:
Thediagonalsgoingalongtheleftandrightedgescontainonly1's.
Thediagonalsnexttotheedgediagonalscontainthenaturalnumbersinorder.
Movinginwards,thenextpairofdiagonalscontainthetriangularnumbersinorder.
Thenextpairofdiagonalscontainthetetrahedralnumbersinorder,andthenextpairgivepentatopenumbers.

Thesymmetryofthetriangleimpliesthatthenthddimensionalnumberisequaltothedthndimensionalnumber.
Analternativeformulathatdoesnotinvolverecursionisasfollows:

wheren(d)istherisingfactorial.
ThegeometricmeaningofafunctionPdis:Pd(1)=1foralld.Constructaddimensionaltriangle(a3dimensional
triangleisatetrahedron)byplacingadditionaldotsbelowaninitialdot,correspondingtoPd(1)=1.Placethesedotsina
manneranalogoustotheplacementofnumbersinPascal'striangle.TofindPd(x),haveatotalofxdotscomposingthe
targetshape.Pd(x)thenequalsthetotalnumberofdotsintheshape.A0dimensionaltriangleisapointanda1
dimensionaltriangleissimplyaline,andthereforeP0(x)=1andP1(x)=x,whichisthesequenceofnaturalnumbers.
ThenumberofdotsineachlayercorrespondstoPd1(x).

Calculatingarowordiagonalbyitself
Therearesimplealgorithmstocomputealltheelementsinarowordiagonalwithoutcomputingotherelementsor
factorials.
Tocomputerow withtheelements , ,..., ,beginwith
.Foreachsubsequentelement,thevalueis
determinedbymultiplyingthepreviousvaluebyafractionwithslowlychangingnumeratoranddenominator:

Forexample,tocalculaterow5,thefractionsare , , , and ,andhencetheelementsare

,

,etc.(Theremainingelementsaremosteasilyobtainedbysymmetry.)

Tocomputethediagonalcontainingtheelements ,
,
subsequentelementsbymultiplicationbycertainfractions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_triangle

,...,weagainbeginwith

andobtain

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Forexample,tocalculatethediagonalbeginningat
,

,thefractionsare , , ,...,andtheelementsare

,etc.Bysymmetry,theseelementsareequalto

,etc.

Overallpatternsandproperties
ThepatternobtainedbycoloringonlytheoddnumbersinPascal'striangle
closelyresemblesthefractalcalledtheSierpinskitriangle.This
resemblancebecomesmoreandmoreaccurateasmorerowsare
consideredinthelimit,asthenumberofrowsapproachesinfinity,the
resultingpatternistheSierpinskitriangle,assumingafixedperimeter.[17]
Moregenerally,numberscouldbecoloreddifferentlyaccordingtowhether
ornottheyaremultiplesof3,4,etc.thisresultsinothersimilarpatterns.
Imagineeachnumberinthetriangleisanodeinagridwhichisconnected
totheadjacentnumbersaboveandbelowit.Nowforanynodeinthegrid,
countthenumberofpathsthereareinthegrid(withoutbacktracking)
whichconnectthisnodetothetopnode(1)ofthetriangle.Theansweris
thePascalnumberassociatedtothatnode.Theinterpretationofthenumber
inPascal'sTriangleasthenumberofpathstothatnumberfromthetip
meansthatonaPlinkogameboardshapedlikeatriangle,theprobabilityof
winningprizesnearerthecenterwillbehigherthanwinningprizesonthe
edges.

Sierpinskitriangle

Pascal'striangleoverlaidonagrid
givesthenumberofdistinctpathsto
eachsquare,assumingonlyrightward
anddownwardmovementsare
considered.

Onepropertyofthetriangleisrevealediftherowsareleftjustified.Inthetrianglebelow,thediagonalcoloured
bandssumtosuccessiveFibonaccinumbers.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

1
3
6
10
15
21
28

1
4
10
20
35
56

1
5
15
35
70

1
6
21
56

1
7
28

1
8

Constructionasmatrixexponential

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Duetoitssimpleconstructionbyfactorials,averybasicrepresentationof
Pascal'striangleintermsofthematrixexponentialcanbegiven:Pascal'striangle
istheexponentialofthematrixwhichhasthesequence1,2,3,4,onits
subdiagonalandzeroeverywhereelse.

Binomialmatrixasmatrix
exponential.Allthedotsrepresent0.

Numberofelementsofpolytopes
Pascal'strianglecanbeusedasalookuptableforthenumberofelements(suchasedgesandcorners)withinapolytope
(suchasatriangle,atetrahedron,asquareandacube).
Let'sbeginbyconsideringthe3rdlineofPascal'striangle,withvalues1,3,3,1.A2dimensionaltrianglehasone2
dimensionalelement(itself),three1dimensionalelements(lines,oredges),andthree0dimensionalelements(vertices,
orcorners).Themeaningofthefinalnumber(1)ismoredifficulttoexplain(butseebelow).Continuingwithour
example,atetrahedronhasone3dimensionalelement(itself),four2dimensionalelements(faces),six1dimensional
elements(edges),andfour0dimensionalelements(vertices).Addingthefinal1again,thesevaluescorrespondtothe
4throwofthetriangle(1,4,6,4,1).Line1correspondstoapoint,andLine2correspondstoalinesegment(dyad).
Thispatterncontinuestoarbitrarilyhighdimensionedhypertetrahedrons(knownassimplices).
Tounderstandwhythispatternexists,onemustfirstunderstandthattheprocessofbuildingannsimplexfroman
(n1)simplexconsistsofsimplyaddinganewvertextothelatter,positionedsuchthatthisnewvertexliesoutsideof
thespaceoftheoriginalsimplex,andconnectingittoalloriginalvertices.Asanexample,considerthecaseofbuildinga
tetrahedronfromatriangle,thelatterofwhoseelementsareenumeratedbyrow3ofPascal'striangle:1face,3edges,
and3vertices(themeaningofthefinal1willbeexplainedshortly).Tobuildatetrahedronfromatriangle,wepositiona
newvertexabovetheplaneofthetriangleandconnectthisvertextoallthreeverticesoftheoriginaltriangle.
Thenumberofagivendimensionalelementinthetetrahedronisnowthesumoftwonumbers:firstthenumberofthat
elementfoundintheoriginaltriangle,plusthenumberofnewelements,eachofwhichisbuiltuponelementsofone
fewerdimensionfromtheoriginaltriangle.Thus,inthetetrahedron,thenumberofcells(polyhedralelements)is0(the
originaltrianglepossessesnone)+1(builtuponthesinglefaceoftheoriginaltriangle)=1thenumberoffacesis1(the
originaltriangleitself)+3(thenewfaces,eachbuiltuponanedgeoftheoriginaltriangle)=4thenumberofedgesis3
(fromtheoriginaltriangle)+3(thenewedges,eachbuiltuponavertexoftheoriginaltriangle)=6thenumberofnew
verticesis3(fromtheoriginaltriangle)+1(thenewvertexthatwasaddedtocreatethetetrahedronfromthetriangle)=
4.Thisprocessofsummingthenumberofelementsofagivendimensiontothoseofonefewerdimensiontoarriveat
thenumberoftheformerfoundinthenexthighersimplexisequivalenttotheprocessofsummingtwoadjacentnumbers
inarowofPascal'striangletoyieldthenumberbelow.Thus,themeaningofthefinalnumber(1)inarowofPascal's
trianglebecomesunderstoodasrepresentingthenewvertexthatistobeaddedtothesimplexrepresentedbythatrowto
yieldthenexthighersimplexrepresentedbythenextrow.Thisnewvertexisjoinedtoeveryelementintheoriginal
simplextoyieldanewelementofonehigherdimensioninthenewsimplex,andthisistheoriginofthepatternfoundto
beidenticaltothatseeninPascal'striangle.Alternately,the"extra"1inarowcanbethoughtofastheemptyspace,or
field,inwhichthevertices,edges,faces,etc.,exist.
Asimilarpatternisobservedrelatingtosquares,asopposedtotriangles.Tofindthepattern,onemustconstructan
analogtoPascal'striangle,whoseentriesarethecoefficientsof(x+2)RowNumber,insteadof(x+1)RowNumber.Thereare
acouplewaystodothis.ThesimpleristobeginwithRow0=1andRow1=1,2.Proceedtoconstructtheanalog
trianglesaccordingtothefollowingrule:

Thatis,chooseapairofnumbersaccordingtotherulesofPascal'striangle,butdoubletheoneontheleftbeforeadding.
Thisresultsin:
1
12

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144
16128
18243216
11040808032
1126016024019264
11484280560672448128

TheotherwayofmanufacturingthistriangleistostartwithPascal'striangleandmultiplyeachentryby2k,wherekis
thepositionintherowofthegivennumber.Forexample,the2ndvalueinrow4ofPascal'striangleis6(theslopeof1s
correspondstothezerothentryineachrow).Togetthevaluethatresidesinthecorrespondingpositionintheanalog
triangle,multiply6by2PositionNumber=622=64=24.Nowthattheanalogtrianglehasbeenconstructed,the
numberofelementsofanydimensionthatcomposeanarbitrarilydimensionedcube(calledahypercube)canberead
fromthetableinawayanalogoustoPascal'striangle.Forexample,thenumberof2dimensionalelementsina2
dimensionalcube(asquare)isone,thenumberof1dimensionalelements(sides,orlines)is4,andthenumberof0
dimensionalelements(points,orvertices)is4.Thismatchesthe2ndrowofthetable(1,4,4).Acubehas1cube,6
faces,12edges,and8vertices,whichcorrespondstothenextlineoftheanalogtriangle(1,6,12,8).Thispattern
continuesindefinitely.
Tounderstandwhythispatternexists,firstrecognizethattheconstructionofanncubefroman(n1)cubeisdoneby
simplyduplicatingtheoriginalfigureanddisplacingitsomedistance(foraregularncube,theedgelength)orthogonal
tothespaceoftheoriginalfigure,thenconnectingeachvertexofthenewfiguretoitscorrespondingvertexofthe
original.Thisinitialduplicationprocessisthereasonwhy,toenumeratethedimensionalelementsofanncube,one
mustdoublethefirstofapairofnumbersinarowofthisanalogofPascal'strianglebeforesummingtoyieldthenumber
below.Theinitialdoublingthusyieldsthenumberof"original"elementstobefoundinthenexthigherncubeand,as
before,newelementsarebuiltuponthoseofonefewerdimension(edgesuponvertices,facesuponedges,etc.).Again,
thelastnumberofarowrepresentsthenumberofnewverticestobeaddedtogeneratethenexthigherncube.
Inthistriangle,thesumoftheelementsofrowmisequalto3m.Again,tousetheelementsofrow4asanexample:
,whichisequalto
.

Fouriertransformofsin(x)n+1/x
Asstatedpreviously,thecoefficientsof(x+1)narethenthrowofthetriangle.Nowthecoefficientsof(x1)narethe
same,exceptthatthesignalternatesfrom+1to1andbackagain.Aftersuitablenormalization,thesamepatternof
numbersoccursintheFouriertransformofsin(x)n+1/x.Moreprecisely:ifniseven,taketherealpartofthetransform,
andifnisodd,taketheimaginarypart.Thentheresultisastepfunction,whosevalues(suitablynormalized)aregiven
bythenthrowofthetrianglewithalternatingsigns.[18]Forexample,thevaluesofthestepfunctionthatresultsfrom:

composethe4throwofthetriangle,withalternatingsigns.Thisisageneralizationofthefollowingbasicresult(often
usedinelectricalengineering):

istheboxcarfunction.[19]Thecorrespondingrowofthetriangleisrow0,whichconsistsofjustthenumber1.
Ifniscongruentto2orto3mod4,thenthesignsstartwith1.Infact,thesequenceofthe(normalized)firstterms
correspondstothepowersofi,whichcyclearoundtheintersectionoftheaxeswiththeunitcircleinthecomplexplane:

Elementarycellularautomaton

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Thepatternproducedbyanelementarycellularautomatonusingrule60isexactlyPascal'striangleofbinomial
coefficientsreducedmodulo2(blackcellscorrespondtooddbinomialcoefficients).[20]Rule102alsoproducesthis
patternwhentrailingzerosareomitted.Rule90producesthesamepatternbutwithanemptycellseparatingeachentry
intherows.

Extensions
Pascal'sTrianglecanbeextendedtonegativerownumbers.
Firstwritethetriangleinthefollowingform:

n=0
n=1
n=2
n=3
n=4

m=0 m=1 m=2 m=3 m=4 m=5 ...

1
0
0
0
0
0
...
1
1
0
0
0
0
...
1
2
1
0
0
0
...
1
3
3
1
0
0
...
1
4
6
4
1
0
...

Next,extendthecolumnof1supwards:

n=4
n=3
n=2
n=1
n=0
n=1
n=2
n=3
n=4

m=0 m=1 m=2 m=3 m=4 m=5 ...

1
...
1
...
1
...
1
...
1
0
0
0
0
0
...
1
1
0
0
0
0
...
1
2
1
0
0
0
...
1
3
3
1
0
0
...
1
4
6
4
1
0
...

Nowtherule:

canberearrangedto:

whichallowscalculationoftheotherentriesfornegativerows:

n=4
n=3
n=2
n=1
n=0
n=1
n=2
n=3
n=4

m=0 m=1 m=2 m=3 m=4 m=5 ...

1
4 10
20 35
56 ...
1
3 6
10 15
21 ...
1
2 3
4 5
6 ...
1
1 1
1 1
1 ...
1
0
0
0
0
0
...
1
1
0
0
0
0
...
1
2
1
0
0
0
...
1
3
3
1
0
0
...
1
4
6
4
1
0
...

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Thisextensionpreservesthepropertythatthevaluesinthemthcolumnviewedasafunctionofnarefitbyanorderm
polynomial,namely
.
Thisextensionalsopreservesthepropertythatthevaluesinthenthrowcorrespondtothecoefficientsof(1+x)n:

Forexample:

Whenviewedasaseries,therowsofnegativendiverge.However,theyarestillAbelsummable,whichsummation
givesthestandardvaluesof2n.(Infact,then=1rowresultsinGrandi'sserieswhich"sums"to1/2,andthen=2row
resultsinanotherwellknownserieswhichhasanAbelsumof1/4.)
AnotheroptionforextendingPascal'striangletonegativerowscomesfromextendingtheotherlineof1s:

n=4
n=3
n=2
n=1
n=0
n=1
n=2
n=3
n=4

m=4 m=3 m=2 m=1 m=0 m=1 m=2 m=3 m=4 m=5 ...
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
...
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
...
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
...
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
2
1
0
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
3
3
1
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
4
6
4
1
0
...

Applyingthesameruleasbeforeleadsto

n=4
n=3
n=2
n=1
n=0
n=1
n=2
n=3
n=4

m=4 m=3 m=2 m=1 m=0 m=1 m=2 m=3 m=4 m=5 ...
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
...
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
...
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
...
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
..
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
2
1
0
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
3
3
1
0
0
...
0
0
0
0
1
4
6
4
1
0
...

Notethatthisextensionalsohasthepropertiesthatjustas

wehave
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Also,justassummingalongthelowerlefttoupperrightdiagonalsofthePascalmatrixyieldstheFibonaccinumbers,
thissecondtypeofextensionstillsumstotheFibonaccinumbersfornegativeindex.
Eitheroftheseextensionscanbereachedifwedefine

andtakecertainlimitsoftheGammafunction,

Seealso
Beanmachine,FrancisGalton's"quincunx"
Belltriangle
Binomialexpansion
Eulertriangle
Floyd'striangle
Leibnizharmonictriangle
MultiplicitiesofentriesinPascal'striangle(Singmaster'sconjecture)
Pascalmatrix
Pascal'spyramid
Pascal'ssimplex
ProtonNMR,oneapplicationofPascal'striangle
(2,1)Pascaltriangle
StarofDavidtheorem
Trinomialexpansion
Trinomialtriangle

References
1.MauriceWinternitz,HistoryofIndianLiterature,Vol.III
2.PeterFox(1998).CambridgeUniversityLibrary:thegreatcollections.CambridgeUniversityPress.p.13.ISBN9780521
626477.
3.Thebinomialcoefficient isconventionallysettozeroifkiseitherlessthanzeroorgreaterthann(sequenceA007318in
OEIS).
4.Pascal'sTriangle|WorldofMathematicsSummary(http://www.bookrags.com/research/pascalstrianglewom/)
5.A.W.F.Edwards.Pascal'sarithmeticaltriangle:thestoryofamathematicalidea.JHUPress,2002.Pages3031.
6.Edwards,A.W.F.(2013),"Thearithmeticaltriangle",inWilson,RobinWatkins,JohnJ.,Combinatorics:Ancientand
Modern,OxfordUniversityPress,pp.166180.
7.AlexanderZawairaGavinHitchcock(2008).APrimerforMathematicsCompetitions.OxfordUniversityPress.p.237.
ISBN9780191561702.
8.O'Connor,JohnJ.Robertson,EdmundF.,"AbuBekribnMuhammadibnalHusaynAlKaraji",MacTutorHistoryof
Mathematicsarchive,UniversityofStAndrews.
9.Coolidge,J.L.(1949),"Thestoryofthebinomialtheorem",TheAmericanMathematicalMonthly56:147157,
JSTOR10.2307/2305028,MR0028222.
10.Weisstein,EricW.(2003).CRCconciseencyclopediaofmathematics,p.2169.ISBN9781584883470.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_triangle

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5/4/2016

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11.Smith,KarlJ.(2010),NatureofMathematics,CengageLearning,p.10,ISBN9780538737586.
12.Fowler,David(January1996)."TheBinomialCoefficientFunction".TheAmericanMathematicalMonthly103(1):117.
doi:10.2307/2975209.JSTOR2975209.Seeinparticularp.11.
13.Brothers,H.J.(2012),"FindingeinPascalstriangle",MathematicsMagazine85:51,doi:10.4169/math.mag.85.1.51.
14.Brothers,H.J.(2012),"Pascal'striangle:Thehiddenstore",TheMathematicalGazette96:145148.
15.Fine,N.J.(1947),"Binomialcoefficientsmoduloaprime",AmericanMathematicalMonthly54:589592,
doi:10.2307/2304500,MR0023257.SeeinparticularTheorem2,whichgivesageneralizationofthisfactforallprimemoduli.
16.Hinz,AndreasM.(1992),"Pascal'striangleandtheTowerofHanoi",TheAmericanMathematicalMonthly99(6):538544,
doi:10.2307/2324061,MR1166003.Hinzattributesthisobservationtoan1891bookbydouardLucas,Thoriedesnombres
(p.420).
17.Wolfram,S.(1984)."ComputationTheoryofCellularAutomata".Comm.Math.Phys.96:1557.
Bibcode:1984CMaPh..96...15W.doi:10.1007/BF01217347.
18.Forasimilarexample,seee.g.Hore,P.J.(1983),"SolventsuppressioninFouriertransformnuclearmagneticresonance",
JournalofMagneticResonance55(2):283300,doi:10.1016/00222364(83)902408.
19.Karl,JohnH.(2012),AnIntroductiontoDigitalSignalProcessing,Elsevier,p.110,ISBN9780323139595.
20.Wolfram,S.(2002).ANewKindofScience.ChampaignIL:WolframMedia.pp.870,9312.

Externallinks
Hazewinkel,Michiel,ed.(2001),"Pascaltriangle",Encyclopediaof
WikimediaCommonshas
Mathematics,Springer,ISBN9781556080104
mediarelatedtoPascal's
Weisstein,EricW.,"Pascal'striangle"
triangle.
(http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PascalsTriangle.html),MathWorld.
TheOldMethodChartoftheSevenMultiplyingSquares
(http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/images/triangle.gif)(fromtheSsuYuanYChienofChuShiChieh,
1303,depictingthefirstninerowsofPascal'striangle)
ImplementationofPascalTriangleinJava(http://pinchhitter.livejournal.com/13183.html)withconversionof
higherdigitstosingledigits.
Pascal'sTreatiseontheArithmeticTriangle(http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/RareBooks/PascalTraite)(pageimagesof
Pascal'streatise,1655summary(http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/RareBooks/PascalTraite/pascalintro.pdf))
EarliestKnownUsesofSomeoftheWordsofMathematics(P)(http://jeff560.tripod.com/p.html)
LeibnizandPascaltriangles(http://www.cuttheknot.org/Curriculum/Combinatorics/LeibnitzTriangle.shtml)
DotPatterns,Pascal'sTriangle,andLucas'Theorem(http://www.cutthe
knot.org/Curriculum/Algebra/DotPatterns.shtml)
OmarKhayyamthemathematician(http://www.stetson.edu/~efriedma/periodictable/html/O.html)
InfoonPascal'sTriangle(http://ptri1.tripod.com)
ExplanationofPascal'sTriangleandcommonoccurrences,includinglinktointeractiveversionspecifying#of
rowstoview(http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.pascal.triangle.html)
InteractiveImplementationofPascalTriangleinSQL(http://pascaltriangle.ayestaran.co.uk/)
Pascal'sTriangleatmathsisfun.com(http://www.mathsisfun.com/pascalstriangle.html)
Pascal'sTriangleInteractiveJavaApplet(http://mike.cynn.com/applets/pascal/)
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