Binomial Theorem

Preliminary
Binomial is an algebraic expression of two terms
"Bi" in binomial refers to two objects/unknowns
e.g. a+b is a binomial with unknowns a and b,
2x-3y is a binomial with unknowns x and y.
Thus, binomial expansion is an expression obtained from a
binomial raised to a certain power.

Preliminary
(a+b)2=(a+b)(a+b)

=a2+2ab+b2 ==> binomial raised to power of 2

(a+b)3=(a+b)(a2+2ab+b2)

=a3+3a2b+3ab2+b2 ==> binomial raised to power of 3

n
(a+b)

The expansion of the binomial expression (a+b)n

n 1 1

(a b) C0 a b C1a b C2 a
n

n 0

n2 2

b .... Cn a b
n

0 n

( a b) n n C r a n r b r
r 0

OR

(a b) n nC0 a 0b n nC1a1b n 1 nC2 a 2b n 2 .... nCn a nb 0

n

( a b) C r a b
n

r 0

nr

Example 1
Expand each of the following.
a) (x+y)5
b) (x+1/x)6

c) (x-2)7
( x y)5 5C0 ( x)5 ( y) 0 5C1 ( x) 4 ( y)1 5C2 ( x)3 ( y) 2 5C3 ( x) 2 ( y)3 5C4 ( x)1 ( y) 4 5C5 ( x) 0 ( y)5
x 5 5 x 4 y 10 x 3 y 2 10 x 2 y 3 5 xy 4 y 5
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
( x ) 6 6C0 ( x) 6 ( ) 0 6C1 ( x) 5 ( )1 6C2 ( x) 4 ( ) 2 6C3 ( x)3 ( )3 6C4 ( x) 2 ( ) 4 6C5 ( x)1 ( )5 6C6 ( x) 0 ( ) 6
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
1
1
1
x 6 6 x 4 15x 2 20 15 2 6 4 6
x
x
x

( x 2 ) 7 7C0 ( x) 7 ( 2 ) 0 7C1 ( x) 6 ( 2 )1 7C2 ( x)5 ( 2 ) 2 7C3 ( x) 4 ( 2 )3

7C4 ( x)3 ( 2 ) 4 7C5 ( x) 2 ( 2 )5 7C6 ( x)1 ( 2 ) 6 7C7 ( x) 0 ( 2 ) 7
x 7 7 2 x 6 42 x 5 70 2 x 4 140x 3 84 2 x 2 56 x 8 2

Common Term
Common Term of (x+y)n = nCr (x)n-r (y)r

3th term, T3 ==> r = 2

nth term, Tn ==> r = n-1
(x+y)5 , T4= 5C3 (x)5-3 (y)3 = 10x3y2

Example 2

Find the coefficient of x-2 of (x+1/x)6

The common term Cr ( x)
6

( x)

6 r

x 6 r x 2 r
r4

1 r
( )
x

6 r

1 r
( )
x

1 4
T5 C4 ( x) ( )
x
15 x 2
6

the coefficient of x -2 15

Example 3
Find the constant term of (x+1/x)6
The common term Cr ( x)
6

6 r

1 r
( )
x

x r x 6 r

1 3
T4 C3 ( x) ( )
x
20

r 3

the constant term 20

x ( x)
0

6 r

1 r
( )
x

Example 4
Find the constant term of (x2 - 2/x)6
2 6 r

The common term Cr ( x )

6

2 6r

x (x )
0

x r x12 2 r
r4

1 r
( )
x

2 r
( )
x

2 4
T5 C4 ( x ) ( )
x
240
6

2 2

the constant term 240

Example 5
Expand each of the following.
a) (1-2x)4
b) (2x+5y)3
(1 2 x) 4 4C0 (1) 4 (2 x) 0 4C1 (1) 3 (2 x)1 4C2 (1) 2 (2 x) 2 4C3 (1)1 (2 x) 3 4C4 (1) 0 (2 x) 4
1 8 x 24 x 2 32 x 3 16 x 4
(2 x 5 y ) 3 3C0 (2 x) 3 (5 y ) 0 3C1 (2 x) 2 (5 y )1 3C2 (2 x)1 (5 y ) 2 3C3 (2 x) 0 (5 y ) 3
8 x 3 60 x 2 y 150 xy 2 125 y 3

Example 6
Expand (2+x)(1+x)5 up to the term in x2 in ascending
power of x.

(2 x)(1 x) 5 (2 x) 5C0 (1) 5 ( x) 0 5C1 (1) 4 ( x)1 5C2 (1) 3 ( x) 2 ....

(2 x)(1 5 x 10 x ...)
2

2 10 x 20 x 2 x 5 x 2 10 x 3 ...
2 44 x 25 x 2 ...

Example 7
Find the coefficient of the term indicated in square
brackets in the expansion of each of the expression
4
below.
c)( 1 x34x)10 [ x r ]

x 7 ) 6 [ x43 ]
b)(
a)2(13 x)2 4 [ x4 ]
7
4
d ) (2 x )(1 x) [ x ]
4 10 r 4 r
10
a)(1 x)
[x ]
the
common ter
m
7 CC r(1)
(1 7)-r (x)3(rxx )
the
common
ter
m
2
4
2
2
6 4 r x 6 r 4
r
(
2

x
)(
1

x
)

(
2

x
)(
1

C
(

x
)

C
(

x
)
the
common
ter
m

C
(
)
(
)
1 3x 6 3
2
r1
4
r
b)( ) [ x ]
3
24
x 0 x1 10 r 4 4 r
3 4
3 2
x 3 ( r ) xC3 ( x) C4 ( x) )
x 4xx
r
4
2
2
3
4
4 10

(
2

x
)(
1

4
x

6
x

4
x

x
)
c)( x ) [constant]
7 r 4r 7 - 4
4
10

3
T5 C 4 (1)4 (x)
x
Coefficien
t26 of x14 632 3x6 3 8 5 3
r

2
4
4
d)(2 x )(1 - x) [x ]
353 x( ) ( ) x
T4 C
34 103 2 4 3 4 2
10
T
C3 ( ) t(of
x )x 2949120
The
35
3 coefficien
5
x t of x 3
the coefficien
the constant term 2949120
2

Example 8
Given that the coefficient of x in the expansion of
(1+ax)(1+5x)40 is 207, determine the value of a.

(1 ax)(1 5 x) 40 (1 ax)(1 40C1 (5 x) ...)

(1 ax)(1 200 x ...)
1 ax 200 x 200ax 2 ..
1 (200 a ) x 200ax ...
2

207 200 a, a 7

Example 9
a) write the first three terms in the binomial expansion of
(2+5x)9 in ascending power of x.
b) Hence evaluate (2.005)9 correct to two decimal
places.

a ) (2 5 x) C0 (2) (5 x) C1 (2) (5 x) C2 (2) (5 x) ...

9

512 11520 x 115200 x 2 ...

b) (2.005) 9 (2 5(0.001))9
512 11520(0.001) 115200(0.001) 2 ...
523.64 (2d . p.)