The Binomial

Theorem
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Binomials
 An expression in the form a + b is called a binomial,
because it is made of of two unlike terms.
 We could use the FOIL method repeatedly to evaluate
expressions like (a + b)2, (a + b)3, or (a + b)4.
– (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
– (a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 + b3
– (a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3b + 6a2b2 + 4ab3 + b4
 But to evaluate to higher powers of (a + b)n would be a
difficult and tedious process.
 For a binomial expansion of (a + b)n, look at the
expansions below:
– (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
– (a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 + b3
– (a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3b + 6a2b2 + 4ab3 + b4
• Some simple patterns emerge by looking at these
examples:
– There are n + 1 terms, the first one is an and the last is bn.
– The exponent of a decreases by 1 for each term and the
exponents of b increase by 1.
– The sum of the exponents in each term is n.
For bigger exponents
 To evaluate (a + b)8, we will find a way to calculate the
value of each coefficient.
(a + b)8= a8 + __a7b + __a6b2 + __a5b3 + __a4b4 + __a3b5 + __a2b6 + __ab7 + b8
– Pascal’s Triangle will allow us to figure out what the coefficients
of each term will be.
– The basic premise of Pascal’s Triangle is that every entry (other
than a 1) is the sum of the two entries diagonally above it.
The Factorial
 In any of the examples we had done already, notice that
the coefficient of an and bn were each 1.
– Also, notice that the coefficient of an-1 and a were each n.
 These values can be calculated by using factorials.
– n factorial is written as n! and calculated by multiplying the
positive whole numbers less than or equal to n.
 Formula: For n≥1, n! = n • (n-1) • (n-2)• . . . • 3 • 2 • 1.
 Example: 4! = 4  3  2  1 = 24
– Special cases: 0! = 1 and 1! = 1, to avoid division by zero in the
next formula.
The Binomial Coefficient
 To find the coefficient of any term of (a +
b)n, we can apply factorials, using the
formula: n n!
n Cr
r r! n r !

– where n is the power of the binomial

expansion, (a + b)n, and
Blaise Pascal – r is the exponent of b for the specific term we are
(1623-1662)
calculating.
 So, for the second term of (a + b)8, we would have n = 8
and r = 1 (because the second term is ___a7b).
– This procedure could be repeated for any term we choose, or all of
the terms, one after another.
– However, there is an easier way to calculate these coefficients.
7! 7! 7
Example : 7 C3
(7 3)! • 3! 4! • 3! 4! • 3!
(7 • 6 • 5 • 4) • (3 • 2 • 1) 7•6•5• 4
35
(4 • 3 • 2 • 1) • (3 • 2 • 1) 4 • 3 • 2 •1
Recall that a binomial has two terms...
(x + y)
The Binomial Theorem gives us a quick method to expand
binomials raised to powers such as…
(x + y)0 (x + y)1 (x + y)2 (x + y)3
Study the following…

Row 0 1 This triangle is called Pascal’s

Row 1 1 1 Triangle (named after mathematician
Row 2 Blaise Pascal).
1 2 1
Row 3 1 3 3 1 Notice that row 5 comes from adding up
Row 4 1 4 6 4 1 row 4’s adjacent numbers.
(The first row is named row 0).
Row 5 1 5 10 10 5 1
Row 6 1 6 15 20 15 6 1

This pattern will help us find the coefficients when we expand binomials...
Finding coefficient
 What we will notice is that when r=0 and when r=n, then
nCr=1, no matter how big n becomes. This is because:
n! n! n! n!
n C0 1 n Cn 1
n 0 ! 0! n! 0! n n ! n! 0! n!

 Note also that when r = 1 and r = (n-1):

n! n n 1! n! n n 1!
n C1 n n Cn 1 n
n 1 ! 1! n 1 ! 1! n n 1 ! n 1! 1! n 1 !

 So, the coefficients of the first and last terms will always be
one.
– The second coefficient and next-to-last coefficient will be n.
(because the denominators of their formulas are equal)
Constructing Pascal’s Triangle
 Continue evaluating nCr for n=2 and n=3.
 When we include all the possible values of r such that
0≤r≤n, we get the figure below:

n=0 0C0

n=1 1C0 1C1

n=2 2C0 2C1 2C2

n=3 3C0 3C1 3C2 3C3

n=4 4C0 4C1 4C2 4C3 4C4

n=5 5C0 5C1 5C2 5C3 5C4 5C5

n=6 6C0 6C1 6C2 6C3 6C4 6C5 6C6

 Knowing what we know about nCr and its values when
r=0, 1, (n-1), and n, we can fill out the outside values
of the Triangle:

r=0, nCr=1 n=0 10

0C

n=1 110 1C
1C 11C
11
r=n, nCr=1
n=2 1 0112C
2C 2
2C 1C
1 12 12C
22

r=1, nCr=n n=3 1 10131C

3C 33
C
131 33C
C
3C
3 222131C
13C
33

r=(n-1), nCr=n n=4 1 10141C

4C 44
C
141 44C
CC
4 222 44C
C
4C
4 333141C
14C
44

n=5 110151C
5C 5C
5151 55C
5C
222 55C
5C
333 55C
5C
5 44151C
4 15C
55

n=6 1 10161C
6C 66
C
161 66C
CC
6 222 66C
CC
6 333 66C
CC
6 444 66C
C
6C
6 555161C
16C
66
Using Pascal’s Triangle
 We can also use Pascal’s Triangle to expand
binomials, such as (x - 3)4.
 The numbers in Pascal’s Triangle can be used to find
the coefficients in a binomial expansion.
 For example, the coefficients in (x - 3)4 are represented
by the row of Pascal’s Triangle for n = 4.

1 4 6 4 1

4 4 0 3 1 2 2 1 3 0 4
x 3 4 C0 x 3 4 C1 x 3 4 C2 x 3 4 C3 x 3 4 C4 x 3

4 3 2 1 0
1x 1 4 x 3 6 x 9 4 x 27 1x 81

1x 4 12x 3 54x 2 108x 81

The Binomial Theorem
( x y)n x n nx n 1 y  nCr x n r y r  nxy n 1 y n
n!
with nCr
(n r )!r !
 The general idea of the Binomial Theorem is that:
– The term that contains ar in the expansion (a + b)n is
n r n r
n!
ab or arbn r

n r n r ! r!
– It helps to remember that the sum of the exponents of each term
of the expansion is n. (In our formula, note that r + (n - r) = n.)

Example: Use the Binomial Theorem to expand (x4 + 2)3.

(x 4 2)3 3 C 0
(x 4 3
) C
3 1
( x 4 2
) (2) 3 C 2
(x 4
)( 2) 2
3 C3
(2) 3

4 3
1 (x ) 3 ( x 4 ) 2 (2) 3 (x 4 )( 2) 2 1 (2)
3

x12 6 x8 12 x 4 8
Example:
Find the eighth term in the expansion of (x + y)13 .
 Think of the first term of the expansion as x13y 0 .
 The power of y is 1 less than the number of the term in
the expansion.

The eighth term is 13C7 x 6 y7.

13! (13 • 12 • 11 • 10 • 9 • 8) • 7!
13 C7
6! • 7! 6! • 7!
13 • 12 • 11 • 10 • 9 • 8
1716
6 • 5 • 4 • 3 • 2 •1

Therefore,
the eighth term of (x + y)13 is 1716 x 6 y7.
Proof of Binomial Theorem
 Binomial theorem for any positive integer n,
n n
a b c0an n
c1a n 1b nc2an 2b2 ........ ncnbn
Proof
The proof is obtained by applying principle of mathematical
induction.
Step: 1 Let the given statement be
n n
f (n) : a b c0an n
c1an 1b nc2an 2b2 ........ ncnbn
Check the result for n = 1 we have
1 1
f (1) : a b c0a1 1c1a1 1b1 a b
Thus Result is true for n =1
Step: 2 Let us assume that result is true for n = k
k k
f (k ) : a b c0ak k
c1ak 1b k c2ak 2b2 ........ k ck bk
Step: 3 We shall prove that f (k + 1) is also true,
k 1 k 1
f (k 1) : a b c0ak 1 k 1
c1ak b k 1
c2ak 1b2 ........ k 1ck 1bk 1

Now,
k 1
a b (a b)( a b) k
k
a b c0 a k k
c1a k 1b k c2 a k 2b 2 ........ k
ck b k
From Step 2

k
c0 a k 1 k
c1a k b k c2 a k 1b 2 ........ k ck ab k
k
c0 a k b k c1a k 1b 2 ........ k ck 1ab k k
ck b k 1

k
c0 a k 1 k
c1 k
c0 a k b k
c2 k
c1 a k 1b 2 .....
k k
... ck ck 1 ab k k
ck b k 1

k 1
by using c0 1, k cr k
cr 1
k
cr , and k ck 1 k 1
ck 1
 k 1
c0 a k 1 k 1
c1a k b k 1
c2 a k 1b 2 ........ k 1
ck ab k k 1
ck 1b k 1

 Thus it has been proved that f(k+1) is true when ever

f(k) is true,
 Therefore, by Principle of mathematical induction f(n) is
true for every Positive integer n.
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