Binomial Theorem

The Binomial Theorem is used to expand out brackets of the form (a  b) n , where n is a whole number.

n (a  b) n Coefficients
0 (a  b)  1
0
1
1 (a  b)1  a  b 1 1
2 (a  b)  a  2ab  b
2 2 2
1 2 1
3 ( a  b)3  a 3  3a 2b  3ab 2  b3 1 3 3 1
4 ( a  b)  a  4a b  6a b  4ab  b
4 4 3 2 2 3 4
1 4 6 4 1

Note 1: The coefficients in these expansions form Pascal’s Triangle. These numbers can also be found
using the Cr button on a calculator. For example, the coefficients for the expansion of  a  b  are:
n 7

7
C0  1 7
C1  7 7
C2  21 7
C3  35
7
C4  35 7
C5  21 7
C6  7 7
C7  1

Note 2: As the power of a decreases by 1, the power of b increases by 1. In each term, when you add
together the powers of a and b together you get n.

 a  b
7
So,  a 7  7a 6b  21a 5b 2  35a 4b 3  35a 3b 4  21a 2b5  7ab 6  b 7

Example 1:
Find the expansion of  3x  y  .
4

Solution:
The coefficients are 1, 4, 6, 4, 1 (from Pascal’s triangle).
The expansion is:
 3x  y   1(3x)4  4(3x)3 y  6(3x) 2 y 2  4(3x) y 3  y 4
4

 1 81x 4  4  27 x 3 y  6  9 x 2 y 2  12 xy 3  y 4
 81x 4  108 x 3 y  54 x 2 y 2  12 xy 3  y 4

Example 2:
Find the first 4 terms in the expansion  2a  3b  .
10

Solution:
First note that  2a  3b   (2a  (3b))10
10

The first 4 coefficients from Pascal’s triangle are

10
C0  1 10
C1  10 10
C2  45 10
C3  120 .
So
 2a  3b   (2a  (3b))10
10

 1(2a)10  10(2a)9 (3b)  45(2a)8 ( 3b) 2  120(2 a) 7 ( 3b) 3

 1024a10  10  512a 9  3b  45  256a 8  9b 2  120  128a 7  27b3
 1024a10  15360a 9b  103680a8b 2  414720a 7b3
Example 3:
8
1 
Find the coefficient of x y in the expansion of  x  3 y 
4 4

2 
Solution:
The value from Pascal’s triangle is C4  70.
8

The actual term is

4
1  1
70   x  (3 y ) 4  70  x 4  81 y 4
2  16
5670 4 4
 x y
16
2835 4 4
 x y
8

Revision Questions

1. Find the expansion of (3x – y)5

2. Find the coefficient of y2 in the expansion of (2y + 7)3.

3. a) Show that (2  x) 4  16  32 x  24 x 2  8 x3  x 4 .
b) Find the values of x for which  2  x   16  16 x  x 4 .
4

Find the non-zero value of b if the coefficient of x 2 in the expansion of  b  2 x  is equal to

6
4.
the coefficient of x5 in the expansion of  2  bx  .
8