Binomial Expansion

The
Binomial
Expansion
Learning
Objective
Use the expansion
of (a + b)n where n
is a positive integer.
x  a
n
Binomials
x  a
n
x represent a number or letter

a represent a number or letter
n represents a power
For example: (1 + x)2 = or (x + 2)3 =

Questions… Find Multiply
Expand the binomial What is..?
Binomial Theorem
part 1: (Pascal ∆)
Fill in the missing numbers for this triangle on your paper

The Sums of the Rows
The sum of the numbers in any row is equal to 2 to the n th power or 2n, when n is the number of the row. For example:

Describe the patterns

part 1: (Pascal ∆)
20 = 1
21 = 1+1 = 2
22 = 1+2+1 = 4
23 = 1+3+3+1 = 8
24 = 1+4+6+4+1 = 16
The sum of the numbers in any row is equal to

2 to the nth power or ____
___ 2n when n is
the number of the row
___________________.
A binomial is a polynomial with two terms such as x + a. Often
we need to raise a binomial to a power. In this section we'll
explore a way to do just that without lengthy multiplication.
 
0
x  a 1 Can you see a
x  a  x  a pattern?
1
Can you make a

 x  a   x  2ax  a
2 2 2
guess what the next
one would be?
 x  a   x  3ax  3a x  a
3 3 2 2 3
 x  a   x  4ax  6a x  4a x  a
4 4 3 2 2 3 4
 
5 5 4 2 3 3 2 4 5
x  a  x  __ ax  __ a x  __ a x  __ a x  a
We can easily see the pattern on the x's and the a's. But what about the
coefficients? Make a guess and then as we go we'll see how you did.
Let's list all of the coefficients on the x's and the a's and look for a pattern.
1
x  a
5
 1x  5ax  10a x  10a x  5a 4 x  1a 5
5 4 2 3 3 2
1+ 1
x  a  1
0
1 +2 + 1
 x  a   1x  1a
1
1 + 3 + 3+ 1
 x  a   1x  2ax  1a
2 2 2
1 +4 +6 + 4+ 1
 x  a   1x  3ax  3a x  1a
3 3 2 2 3
1 5 10 10 5 1
Can you guess
 
4 4 3 2 2 3 4
x  a  1x  4 ax  6 a x  4 a x  1a the next row?
This is good for lower
powers but could get 1
very large. We will
introduce some
notation to help us and 1 1
generalize the
coefficients with a
formula based on what 1 2 1
was observed here.
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
This is called Pascal's Triangle and would give us the
coefficients for a binomial expansion of any power if we
extended it far enough.
Patterns observed
Consider the patterns formed by expanding (x + y)n.
• Powers on x and y add up to power on binomial
• x's increase in power as y's decrease in power from term to term.
(x + y)0 = 1 1. The exponents on x decrease
(x + y)1 = x + y from n to 0 and the exponents
on y increase from 0 to n.
(x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2 2. Each term is of degree n.
(x + y)3 = x3 + 3x2y + 3xy2 + y3 Example: The 4th term of (x
+ y)5
is a term with x y .”
2 3
(x + y)4 = x4 + 4x3y + 6x2y2 + 4xy3 + y 4
(x + y)5 = x5 + 5x4y + 10x3y2 + 10x2y3 + 5xy4 + y5

• Symmetry of coefficients (i.e. 2nd term and 2nd to last term have
same coefficients, 3rd & 3rd to last etc.) so once you've reached the
middle, you can copy by symmetry rather than compute coefficients.
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 10

The coefficients of the binomial expansion are called binomial
coefficients. The coefficients have symmetry.
(x + y)5 = 1x5 + 5x4y + 10x3y2 + 10x2y3 + 5xy4 + 1y5
The first and last coefficients are 1.

The coefficients of the second and second to last terms
are equal to n.
Example 1: What are the last 2 terms of (x + y)10 ?
Since n = 10, the last two terms are 10xy9 + 1y10.
Example 2: What are the last 2 terms of (x + 2)10 ?

Since n = 10, the last two terms are 10x(2)9 + 1y10.
Use a calculator to calculate (2)9 = 510 then multiply it by 10
Your final answer should be 5100x + 1y10.
Example 3: Use Pascal’s Triangle to expand (2a + b)4.
1 0th row
1 1 1st row
1 2 1 2nd row
1 3 3 1 3rd row
1 4 6 4 1 4th row
(2a + b)4 = 1(2a)4 + 4(2a)3b + 6(2a)2b2 + 4(2a)b3 + 1b4

= 1(16a4) + 4(8a3)b + 6(4a2b2) + 4(2a)b3 + b4
= 16a4 + 32a3b + 24a2b2 + 8ab3 + b4

Extra: different form of questions you might see on test…
1. What is the second term in the

binomial expansion of this expression?
(x + 3)4
2. Find and simplify the fourth term in the expansion of

(3x2 + y3)4 .
3. (3x - 2y)4 =
[Hint: this is the same as (3x + -2y)4 so use a calculator to find the answer and write the whole
expansion for fourth power out for the answer.]

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The

x represent a number or letter

For example: (1 + x)2 = or (x + 2)3 =

Fill in the missing numbers for this triangle on your paper

Describe the patterns

The sum of the numbers in any row is equal to

Can you make a

(x + y)5 = x5 + 5x4y + 10x3y2 + 10x2y3 + 5xy4 + y5

Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 10

The first and last coefficients are 1.

Example 2: What are the last 2 terms of (x + 2)10 ?

(2a + b)4 = 1(2a)4 + 4(2a)3b + 6(2a)2b2 + 4(2a)b3 + 1b4

Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 12

1. What is the second term in the

2. Find and simplify the fourth term in the expansion of

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