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From a young age, I had always found the idea of Pascal’s Triangle fascinating. It
was first introduced to me as a method of finding the probability of a coin toss, or n number
of coin tosses. I had then endeavored to adapt the rules of a triangle to find the probability
of a dice roll. Since then I learned it could also be used to find the coefficients of the
expansion of the expression ( a + b ) . However interesting the uses of Pascal’s Triangle
n

were, I found them to remain rather binary (1 & 2, heads or tails, a + b). Therefore, the aim
of this exploration is to investigate different versions of Pascal’s Triangle and their uses.

Pascal’s Triangle is rather basic,

each subsequent value is the sum of the n Triangle 1 Sum
two values directly above it, the sum of
0 1 1
each line is 2 n , and each line represents a
new integer n . On the table the right, “n=6” 1 1 1 2
shows how each of its terms would be
2 1 2 1 4
calculated from the row above. “n=0”
represents the empty set. That is, for the 3 1 3 3 1 8
probability of coins, if there are no coins,
4 1 4 6 4 1 16
the probability of getting neither heads nor
tails is 1 or 100%. As for the expression 5 1 5 10 10 5 1 32
1
( a + b )n , if n=0, there is only one 6 1 1+5 5+10 10+10 10+5 5+1 1 64

coefficient, “1” as ( a + b ) = 1 .
0

To show an example of how to use this table, I will take n=2. If you have 2 coins, you
have a 1 or 25% chance of getting heads twice, a 2 or 50% chance of getting one
4 4
heads and one tails, and a 1 or 25% chance of getting tails twice. Furthermore,
4
( a + b )2 = a 2 + 2ab + b 2 therefore the coefficients of ( a + b ) are 1, 2, and 1.
2

Another way of finding a value on Pascal’s triangle is by finding the combination of r

⎛ n ⎞ n!
to n , ⎜ = , where n is as previously defined and r is the other coordinate of
⎝ r ⎟⎠ r!( n − r )!
the triangle. In the probability of coins, r can be the number of tails out of n number of
⎛ n ⎞ ⎛ n ⎞
coins (heads and tails are interchangeable as ⎜ = , if one is denoted by r ,
⎝ r ⎟⎠ ⎜⎝ n − r ⎟⎠
the other is n − r ). As a result, the probability of n − r heads and r tails after n number of
⎛ n ⎞
⎜ r ⎟
coin tosses can be found by: ⎝ n ⎠
2
n
⎛ n ⎞ n−r r
For binomial expressions, ( a + b ) = ∑ ⎜⎝
n
a b . An expression for this polynomial is
r=0 r ⎟⎠
⎛ n ⎞ n−r r ⎛ n ⎞ n!
Tr+1 = ⎜ ⎟ a b ; as a result, the coefficient of the term Tr+1 is ⎜ ⎟ = .
⎝ r ⎠ ⎝ r ⎠ r!( n − r )!
Therefore, “r” is equal to the term number minus one.

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n Triangle 2 Triangle 3 Sum

0 1 ∅ 1

1 1 1 H T 2

2 1 2 1 HH HT TT 4

3 1 3 3 1 HHH HHT HTT TTT 8

The two triangles above show how to relate a combination of heads and tails (H and T), for
n number of coins, to its corresponding probability. For example, the probability of one
heads and one tails coin (not necessarily in that order) is the value corresponding to HT (2)
over the total (4) or 50%.

n Triangle 4 Triangle 5 Triangle 6

0 0C 0 1 1
1 1C 0 1C 1 1 1 a b
2 2C 0 2C 1 2C 2 1 2 1 a2 ab b2
3 3C 0 3C 1 3C 2 3C 3 1 3 3 1 a3 a 2b ab2 b3

⎛ ⎛ n ⎞⎞
The three triangles above show how to relate the combination ⎜ n Cr = ⎜ ⎟ , coefficient,
⎝ ⎝ r ⎟⎠ ⎠
and variable. For example, 3C1 = 3 corresponds to the coefficient of a 2b and the term
T2 = 3a 2b .

Another use for Pascal’s Triangle is to find the probability of different

sums. Let us take a probability wheel with two possible outcomes (a a
b
and b) with equal probability (50%), where b = a + m and a,b, m ∈!+ . If
we take the sum of n trials, there are n + 1 different possible outcomes:
na, ( n − 1) a + b, … a + ( n − 1) b, nb . When you substitute b = a + m ,
the outcomes simplify to: na, na + m, … na + ( n − 1) m, na + nm .
Each outcome will have the sum na + rm , the probability for this sum is
⎛ n ⎞ 1
2
⎜⎝ r ⎟⎠ or the value on Pascal’s triangle corresponding to the n row
th

and column “r”.

For example, let us take a and m to be equal to 1; that

is, a=1 and b=2 as shown on the right. If the wheel is spun 3 3 4 5 6
times, there would be 4 possible outcomes: { 3 4 5 6 }. 1+1+1 1+1+2 1+2+2 2+2+2
According to Pascal’s Triangle, there is a 1 in 8 chance of
1+2+1 2+1+2
getting a sum of 3 or 6, and a 3 in 8 chance of getting a sum of
4 or 5. The Table to the right shows all the possible outcomes 2+1+1 2+2+1
and agrees with the values given above.


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However, as interesting as these properties may be, they only function for two terms and two
variables. I tried to find a rule like Pascal’s triangle that would enable me to find the same
properties mentioned above for an arbitrary number of variables. I first tried to find a rule for
3 variables. To begin, I set aside the probability properties of triangle and focused on finding
the coefficients of a trinomial ( a + b + c ) .
n

I started by solving the first 4 trinomials, n = { 0 1 2 3 }:

( a + b + c )n
( a + b + c )0 = 1
( a + b + c )1 = a + b + c
( a + b + c )2 = a 2 + b 2 + c 2 + 2ab + 2ac + 2bc
( a + b + c )3 = a 3 + b 3 + c 3 + 3a 2b + 3a 2 c + 3ab 2 + 3ac 2 + 3b 2 c + 3bc 2 + 6abc
As I tried to find a pattern in the coefficients, I noticed a key difference between the binomial
and trinomial expressions. In the expanded binomials, there are two terms that are raised to
the power n , which represent the two ends of each segment on Pascal’s triangle. However,
in an expanded trinomial there are three terms raised to the power n . As a segment cannot
contain 3 endpoint, I tried arranging the coefficients in triangles. As a result, I hypothesized
that the rule was not a triangle, but a triangular pyramid, a 3-dimensional Pascal’s Triangle.

Cross-sections Pyramid
n=0 n=1 n=2 n=3

1 1 1 1
1 1 2 2 3 3
1 2 1 3 6 3
1 3 3 1

Each of the above cross-sections would be staked to form

the pyramid on the right. Each n on the pyramid
represents, as in Pascal’s Triangle, the power to which the
expression is raised to.

I arranged these cross-section triangles by placing one variable at each vertex and working
my way inward. That is, the triangle n=0 to n=3 above correspond to the coefficients of
these variables:


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

1 b b2 b3

a c ab bc ab2 b 2c

a2 ac c2 a 2b abc bc2

a3 a 2c ac2 c3

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n=2 n=3
After arranging the coefficients of the trinomial in these
cross-sections, I had notices two main patterns. The
1 1 1 1
first is that the sides of each “triangle” correction is
1 1 2 2 3 3
simply the Pascal segment at that n . The second
1 2 1 3 6 3
pattern I saw was that each value seemed to be the
1 3 3 1
sum of the 3 values directly above it i the sections were
to be staked. For example, the value “6” at n=3 is
directly below the three “2’s” at n=2. The second
pattern explains the first as each value on1 the side 1 1 1
would only have two values directly above them, 1 1 2 2 2+2+2 3 3
therefore would follow the rule of Pascal’s Triangle. 1 2 1 3 6 3
For example, the “3” and “1” at n=3 would add to “4”, 1 3 3 1
as it would in Pascal’s Triangle.

Using this pattern, I estimated the coefficients for a trinomial with a degree of four:

k n=1 n=2 n=3 n=4

0 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4

2 1 2 1 3 6 3 6 12 6

3 1 3 3 1 4 12 12 4

4 1 4 6 4 1

I then compared my results to the proper values:

( a + b + c )4 = a 4 + b 4 + c 4 + 4 ( a 3b + a 3c + b 3c + ab 3 + ac 3 + bc 3 ) + 6 ( a 2b 2 + a 2 c 2 + b 2 c 2 ) + 12 ( a 2bc + ab 2 c + abc 2 )
This pattern therefore seems to be correct.

This 4th cross-section led me to see another pattern. Each row corresponds to the
⎛ n ⎞
combination of n to the row ( k ), ⎜ , multiplied by the combination of the row ( k ) to the
⎝ k ⎟⎠
⎛ k ⎞ ⎛ n ⎞⎛ k ⎞
column ( r ), ⎜ , or ⎜ . The table below shows how to find the cross-section
⎝ r ⎟⎠ ⎝ k ⎟⎠ ⎜⎝ r ⎟⎠
for n=4 using this method.

k nCk Pascal’s Triangle (kCr) n=4

0 1 x 1 1

1 4 x 1 1 4 4

2 6 x 1 2 1 6 12 6

3 4 x 1 3 3 1 4 12 12 4

4 1 x 1 4 6 4 1 1 4 6 4 1

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Using this pattern, I estimated the coefficients for a trinomial with a degree of five:

k nC
k Pascal’s Triangle (kCr) n=5

0 1 x 1 1

1 5 x 1 1 5 5

2 10 x 1 2 1 10 20 10

3 10 x 1 3 3 1 10 30 30 10

4 5 x 1 4 6 4 1 5 20 30 20 5

5 1 x 1 5 10 10 5 1 1 5 10 10 5 1

I then compared my results to the proper values:

( a + b + c )5 = a 5 + b 5 + c 5 + 5a 4b + 5a 4 c + 5ab 4 + 5ac 4 + 5b 4 c + 5bc 4 + 10a 3b + 10a 3c + 10ab 3 + 10ac 3

+10b 3c + 10bc 3 + 20a 2bc + 20ab 2 c + 20abc 2 + 30a 2b 2 c + 30a 2bc 2 + 30ab 2 c 2

As this pattern also seemed to be correct, I attempted a proof as follows:

To find the coefficients of the trinomial, I tried to solve the expression as a binomial with
terms a and (b + c) :
( a + b + c )n = ( a + ( b + c ) )
n

I then tried to find the term Tk+1 for this expression:

⎛ n ⎞ n−k
a (b + c )
k
⇒ Tk+1 = ⎜ ⎟
⎝ k ⎠
k
⎛ k ⎞ k−r r
Then I substituted ( b + c ) = ∑ ⎜⎝
k
b c :
r=0 r ⎟⎠
⎛ n ⎞ n−k k ⎛ k ⎞ k−r r
Tk+1 = ⎜ a ∑⎜ ⎟b c
⎝ k ⎟⎠ r=0 ⎝ r ⎠

⎛ n ⎞ n−k+2
I distributed ⎜ a :
⎝ k ⎟⎠
k
⎛ n ⎞ ⎛ k ⎞ n−k k−r r
Tk+1 = ∑ ⎜ ⎟⎜ ⎟a b c
r=0 ⎝ k ⎠ ⎝ r ⎠

⎛ n ⎞⎛ k ⎞
As a result, the coefficient of the terms in a trinomial is: ⎜
⎝ k ⎟⎠ ⎜⎝ r ⎟⎠
n k
⎛ n ⎞ ⎛ k ⎞ n−k k−r r
And the expansion is: ( a + b + c ) = ∑ ∑ ⎜
n
⎟⎜ ⎟a b c
k=0 r=0 ⎝ k ⎠ ⎝ r ⎠

This means that the second method is correct, therefore the “triangle cross-sections” shown
above will provide the coefficients of a polynomial with 3 variables. If the trend continues,
as we add variables, we would add dimensions to the “Pascal triangle”. Using the proof
above, it can also be shown that more variables would simply mean multiplying the
coefficients by more combinations.


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Next, I tried to apply the trends I had observed with the trinomials to the probability of 3
variables. I took 3 variables, {A,B,C}, on a probability wheel with equal (33%) probability. I
then compared the results of 0, 1, 2, and 3 spins to the cross section triangles shown above.

Cross-sections
A n=0 n=1 n=2
C n=0 n=1
0 A B C AA BB CC AB BC CA
B BA CB AC 1 1 1
1 1 2 2
1 2 1
n=2 n=3
n=3
1 1 1 1
AAA BBB CCC AAB ABB AAC ACC BBC BCC ABC
1 1 2 2 3 3
ABA BAB ACA CAC BCB CBC ACB 1 2 1 3 6 3
1 3 3 1
BAA BBA CAA CCA CBB CCB BAC
The values on the
BCA
triangles fit the number
CAB of permutations for each
possible result.
CBA

These 4 triangle cross-sections show how to relate the possible outcomes to their probability
on the Pascal cross-section triangles above.

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

∅ B
BBB
BB
A C
AB BC ABB BBC
AA AC CC
AAB ABC BCC

AAA AAC ACC CCC

The total number of different possibilities after n number of spins is 3n . Therefore,

the probability of any combination is its corresponding value on the pyramid divided by 3n .
For example, the probability of having a permutation of ABC after spinning the wheel 3 times
is 6
27 or 22%.

The trends observed for the trinomials seemed to be among the probabilistic applications of
Pascal’s triangle.

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However, when we try to find the probability for the sum of 3 whole
numbers, we encounter a problem. Let us take 3 numbers (a, b, and
c) where b = a + m , c = a + 2m , and a,b,c, m ∈!+ . That is, if m=1, a
c
a,b, and c would be 3 consecutive whole numbers. If we find all the
possibilities for a sum when the wheel is spun n times, we get a
finite arithmetic sequence with the first term na , last term nc , and a b
nc − na
common difference of m. There are therefore + 1 possible
m
sums for each n . Substitute c = a + 2m and simplify, we get 2n + 1
different possible sums.

n+1
( n + 1)( n + 2 ) .
In a triangle cross-section of the “Pascal Pyramid”, there are ∑i terms, or
2
i=1

The problem is that

( n + 1)( n + 2 ) ≥ 2n + 1 for n ∈!+ , therefore there are more terms in a
2
triangle cross-section than there are different possible sums of a,b, and c.

I then noticed that there are different combination that would be represented by different
values on the triangle cross-section, yet have the same sum. For example, for n=2,
2b = a + c . I also noticed that these corresponding values are places along the same
vertical axis, so i decided to add the triangle cross-section along the vertical axis (or collapse
the 2-dimensional triangle cross-section to a 1-dimensional segment).

k n=1 n=2 n=3

0 1 1 1

1 1 1 2 2 3 3

2 1 2 1 3 6 3

3 1 3 3 1

Sum 1 1 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 3 6 7 6 3 1

The results have 2n + 1 terms each, so I tried to see if these values correspond to the
probabilities of the sum:

n=0 n=1 n=2 This table shows the

different sums that can be
0 a a+m a+2m 2a 2a+m 2a+2m 2a+3m 2a+4m obtained at n=0, n=1, and
n=2 and how these sums
∅ a b c a+a a+b b+b b+c c+c
can be obtained. The
b+a a+c c+b number of ways these each
sum can be acquired
c+a matches the table above.

As a result, when the triangle cross-sections are collapsed to 1-dimensional segments, the
results give the probabilities for each different sum of a, b, and c.


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After collapsing the triangle cross-sections to 1-dimensional segments, I noticed a pattern in

the vertical sums. I arranged the sums as though they formed their own triangle, as shown in
triangle 7 below. It seems that each value is the sum of the 3 values directly above it. Using
this pattern, I continued the “triangle” to n=4. 1=0+0+1, 4=0+1+3, 10=1+3+6, 16=3+6+7,
19=6+7+6, etc.

n Triangle 7 Sum k n=4

0 0 1
1 1
1 4 4
1 1 1 1 3
2 6 12 6
2 1 2 3 2 1 9
3 4 12 12 4
3 1 3 6 7 6 3 1 27 4 1 4 6 4 1
4 1 4 10 16 19 16 10 4 1 81 Sum 1 4 10 16 19 16 10 4 1

To verify the estimate of the values at n=4 for the triangle above, I added the vertical values
of the triangle cross-section “n=4” as I did the others previously. The final segments
correspond, therefore, the trend may be correct.

The probability of a sum of 2 consecutive numbers is given by Pascal’s Triangle, a triangle

where each value is the sum of the 2 values directly above it. The probability of a sum of 3
consecutive numbers is given by a triangle where each value is the sum of the 3 values
directly above it. If the trend continues, the probability of a sum from dice would be given by
a triangle where each value is found by adding the 6 values directly above it:

#  of  
Sum 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Dice
1 6 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 36 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 2 1
3 216 0 0 1 3 6 10 15 21 25 27 27 25 21 15 10 6 3 1

In conclusion, I developed a 3-dimensional version of Pascal’s triangle to fit the

needs of a trinomial. I found two different rules for this pyramid. I proved that the
⎛ ⎞⎛ ⎞
coefficients of trinomial can be found using ⎜ n ⎟ ⎜ k ⎟ . I showed how the rules I developed
⎝ k ⎠⎝ r ⎠
for trinomials can also be used to find probability of 3 variables after n events, and the areas
where such principles could be applied in probability. This exploration has shown a simpler,
more graphical method by which one can find the probabilities of multiple variable events
and find the coefficients of polynomials. However, very little proof has been used, apart from
finding the coefficient of a term Tk+1 , most of the conclusions were found through the
observation of trends and trial and error. Although the trends seem to work for the tested
values, I may not know for certain whether they would function for all values. Furthermore, a
limitation of this method would be the fact that it cannot be represented beyond 3-
dimensions. I can only speculate what the “triangle” may resemble from observable trends,
but I may not show a graphical representation of the triangle of 4-dimensions. Further
exploration could extend this concept into additional dimensions, perhaps allowing the
formation and proof of an algorithm that can yield results for any arbitrary number of

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dimensions. For example, I noticed that as we add more variables in a polynomial, we are
multiplying each term, when expanded, by another combination. That is, if I have a
polynomial of four terms, ( a1 + a2 + a3 + a4 ) , then each term would have the coefficient
n

⎛ n ⎞ ⎛ k1 ⎞ ⎛ k2 ⎞
⎜ k ⎟ ⎜ k ⎟ ⎜ k ⎟ , where ( n, k1 , k2 , k3 ) are the coordinates of the 4-dimensional “Pascal
⎝ 1 ⎠⎝ 2 ⎠⎝ 3 ⎠
triangle”. Similarly, a polynomial with m number of terms, ( a1 + a2 + …+ am−1 + am ) , would
n

⎛ n ⎞ ⎛ k1 ⎞ ⎛ km−3 ⎞ ⎛ km−2 ⎞
have the coefficients ⎜ ⎟⎜ ⎟ i…i ⎜ ⎟⎜ ⎟ . However, this is simply
⎝ k1 ⎠ ⎝ k2 ⎠ ⎝ k m−2 ⎠⎝ k m−1 ⎠
speculation based on the trends I observed in the differenced between binomials and
trinomials. Nonetheless, if these trends are true, this could lead to simple algorithms that
would be used to find the probabilities of any arbitrary number of possible outcomes after
any arbitrary number of trials. Such an algorithm could be used to prove and batter estimate
the probability of dice rolls, as shown above. In addition, a variation of the principle could be
developed so that it could account for situations where probabilities of different outcomes
are not all completely identical. The possibilities are limitless.


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Sources

All diagrams were made using: Adobe Illustrator, Apple Pages, Google SketchUp, and
Microsoft Excel

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