BINOMIAL THEOREM

The Expansion of (𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛

If 𝑛 is any positive integer, then

(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛 + 𝑛𝐶1 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑏 + 𝑛𝐶2 𝑎𝑛−2 𝑏 2 + ⋯ + 𝑛𝐶𝑟 𝑎𝑛−𝑟 𝑏 𝑟 + ⋯ + 𝑏 𝑛

Where
𝑛𝐶𝑟 = combination of n objects taken r at a time.

Some Example of Binomial Expansion

(a+b)2= a2 + 2ab + b2
(a+b)3= a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 + b3
(a+b)4= a4 + 4a3b + 6a2b2 + 4ab3 + b4
(a+b)5= a5 + 5a4b + 10a3b2 + 10a2b3 + 5ab4 + b5
(a+b)6= a6 + 6a5b + 15a4b2 + 20a3b3 + 15a2b4 + 6ab5 + b6
(a+b)7= a7 + 7a6b + 21a5b2 + 35a4b3 + 35a3b4 + 21a2b5 + 7ab6 + b7

Properties of Binomial Expansion

1. The first term and last term of the expansion are 𝑎𝑛 and 𝑏 𝑛 , respectively.
2. There are 𝑛 + 1 terms in the expansion.
3. The sum of the exponents of 𝑎 and 𝑏 in any term is 𝑛.
4. The exponent of 𝑎 decreases by 1 from 𝑛 to 0.
5. The exponent of 𝑏 increases by 1 from 0 to 𝑛.
6. The coefficient of the second term and the second from the last term is 𝑛 if the coefficient of 𝑎 and 𝑏 is 1.

Pascal's Triangle
Pascal's triangle can be used to find the coefficient of binomial expansion.
(a + b)0 : 1
(a + b)1 : 1 1
(a + b)2 : 1 2 1
(a + b)3 : 1 3 3 1
(a + b)4 : 1 4 6 4 1
(a + b)5 : 1 5 10 10 5 1
(a + b)6 : 1 6 15 20 15 6 1
(a + b)7 : 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
𝑛!
rth term of (a + b)n: 𝑟 𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑎𝑛−𝑟+1 𝑏 𝑟−1
(𝑛 − 𝑟 + 1)! (𝑟 − 1)!

or
𝑟 𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑛𝐶𝑚 𝑎𝑛−𝑚 𝑏 𝑚
where 𝑚 = 𝑟 − 1

for n = even, the middle term is at

1
𝑟= 𝑛+1
2

EXAMPLE:
Expand the Binomial:
(3x+2y)7 = 7C0 (3x)7 (2y)0 + 7C1 (3x)6 (2y)1 + 7C2 (3x)5 (2y)2 + 7C3 (3x)4 (2y)3 + 7C4 (3x)3 (2y)4 + 7C5 (3x)2 (2y)5 + 7C6 (3x)1 (2y)6 + 7C7 (3x)0 (2y)7
= 2187x7 + 10206x6y1 + 20412x5y2 + 22680x4y3 + 15120x3y4 + 6048x2y5 + 1344xy6 + 128y7

(4x-3y)5 = 5C0 (4x)5 (-3y)0+ 5C1 (4x)4 (-3y)1+ 5C2 (4x)3 (-3y)2+ 5C3 (4x)2 (-3y)3+ 5C4 (4x)1 (-3y)4+ 5C5 (4x)0 (-3y)5
= 1024x5 – 3840x4y + 5760x3y2 – 4320x2y3 + 1620x1y4 – 243y5

Determine the 12th term of the expansion (x+2y)18 = 18𝐶(12−1) 𝑥 18−(12−1) (2𝑦)12−1 = 65175552x7y11
15 1 15−(8−1) 1 1 7 −11714560
1
Determine the 8th term of the expansion ( − 4) = 15𝐶(8−1) ( ) (−4)8−1 = 6435 ( ) (−16384) ( ) =
3𝑎 3𝑎 6561 𝑎 729 𝑎7

PREPARED BY: ENGR. JAEUS M. SEGUNDO

PROBLEMS:
Expand the following binomials:
1. (10𝑥 − 12𝑦)2
2. (2𝑥 − 4𝑦)3
3. (5𝑥 2 + 8𝑦 2 )3
4. (5𝑥 − 11𝑦 2 )3
5. (𝑥 + 3𝑦)4
6. (2𝑥 − 𝑦)5
7. (2𝑥 3 − 𝑦 2 )5
8. (𝑥 5 − 𝑦 4 )6
9. (3𝑥 3 − 𝑦 2 )7
1 4
10. (4𝑥 6 − 𝑦 3 )
2

Determine the following:

11. The 5th term in the expansion of (2𝑥 − 3𝑦 2 )8
12. The 3rd term of (3𝑥 2 − 2𝑦 3 )5
13. The 4th term of (4𝑥 3 − 5𝑦 4 )6
14. The 5th term of (2𝑥 4 − 3𝑦 2 )8
15. The 4th term of (3𝑥 2 + 6𝑦 4 )12
16. The term involving 𝑥 9 𝑦 6 in the expansion (𝑥 3 + 2𝑦 2 )6
17. The term involving 𝑥 6 𝑦12 in the expansion (3𝑥 2 − 4𝑦 3 )7
4 11
18. The term involving 𝑥 in the expansion (3𝑥 − )
𝑥
𝑦6 3𝑦 8
19. The term involving in the expansion (2𝑥 2 − )
𝑥 14 𝑥3
9
2𝑥 5 3𝑦 4
20. The term involving 𝑥 5 𝑦12 in the expansion ( + )
3𝑦 2 𝑥3

PREPARED BY: ENGR. JAEUS M. SEGUNDO