IB Questions on Binomial Expansion:

Math AA HL/SL

1. 5 8
Find the coefficient of x in the expansion of (3x – 2) [-108864]

2. Given that
5 6 2 6 11
(1 + x) (1 + ax)  1 + bx + 10x + ............... + a x ,

find the values of a, b  *. [ a = -2, b = -7]

3 4 7
3. Find the coefficient of a b in the expansion of (5a + b) . [4375]

5 7 12
4. Find the coefficient of a b in the expansion of (a + b) . [792]
7 10
5. Find the coefficient of x in the expansion of (2 + 3x) , giving your answer as a whole number.

[2099520]

7
 1 
x  2  7
 ax  3 [ ±3 ]
6. The coefficient of x in the expansion of is . Find the possible values of a.
9
 2 
x– 2  .
 x 
7. Determine the constant term in the expansion of [-672]

4 4 3
8. Use the binomial theorem to complete this expansion. (3x +2y) = 81x + 216x y +...

 4  4  4
(1  x) 4 1    x    x 2   x 3  x 4 .
9. Consider the binomial expansion  1  2  3

 4  4  4
        .
1 2 3
By substituting x = 1 into both sides, or otherwise, evaluate      
(a)
[14]
 9  9   9  9   9  9  9   9
                      
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 
(b) Evaluate . [510]

1
 9
 2 1
 3x –  .
10. Consider the expansion of  x

(a) How many terms are there in this expansion? [10]

(b) Find the constant term in this expansion. [2268]

2
 3 5
11. Find the coefficient of x in the expansion of (2 – x) . [-40]

8
 1 
1 – x 
Find the coefficient of x in the binomial expansion of  2  .
3
12. [-7]
10
10 2 7
13. Find the term containing x in the expansion of (5 + 2x ) . [16800 x ]

14. Complete the following expansion.

[. . .. .. .+24 a 2 x 2 +8 a3 x3 +a 4 x 4 ]
4
(2 + ax) = 16 + 32ax + …
3
3 8
15. Find the term containing x in the expansion of (2 – 3x) . [ -48384 x ]

5
16. (a) Find the expansion of (2 + x) , giving your answer in ascending powers of x.
5
(b) By letting x = 0.01 or otherwise, find the exact value of 2.01 . [ 32. 808 040 1001 ]
2 5
17. Consider the expansion of (x – 2) .

(a) Write down the number of terms in this expansion.

(b) The first four terms of the expansion in descending powers of x are
10 8 6 4
x – 10x + 40x + Ax + ...

Find the value of A. [ -80 ]

18. Express  3  23

in the form a 3  b , where a, b . [ 15 3  26
6
 3x 
2  .
Find the coefficient of the x term in the expansion of 
3 2 
19. [-540]
5 7
20. Determine the first three terms in the expansion of (1− 2x) (1+ x) in ascending powers of x.
2
[1  3x  9x + ...]

3
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26.