Binomial Expansion

Case 1

We want to expand  a  b  , where n  

that is n  1, 2,3, .
n

n n n n

a  b  a n    a n 1b1    a n  2b 2    a n 3b3     a nr b r   bn .
n

1  2  3 r

n
Note:    nCr .
r
Thus,

a  b  a n  nC1a n 1b1  nC2 a n  2b 2  nC3a n 3b3   nCr a n  r b r   bn .

n

The expansion  a  b  , where n  

is a finite series with n  1 terms and is valid for all values of
n

a and b.

Example.
Expand

5  x 
3
(a)

1  3x 
4
(b)
Case 2

We want to expand 1  x  , where n  

n
or n  .

n  n  1 2 n  n  1 n  2  3 n  n  1 n  2   n  r  1 xr 
1  x   1  nx  x  x  
n
.
2! 3! r!

The expansion 1  x  , where n  

n
or n  is an infinite series with n  1 terms and is valid
when x  1 or 1  x  1 .

Example.
By using Binomial expansion, expand each of the following in ascending powers of x as far as the
term in x3 / Write down the first four terms in the following expansions as a series in asecneding
powers of x.

1
(a)
1 x
(b) 1  2x 
6

1
(c) 1  x  4
1
(d)
 2  3x 
2