BINOMIAL THEOREM

P.M./Binomial/p.1

Introduction
n

The binomial coefficient r is defined for any non-zero real number n and any non-negative
n
n(n - 1)(n - 2) ... (n - r + 1)

0!
r
=
r!
integer r as
where
is defined as 1.

However, when n is a positive integer,

n
n(n - 1)(n - 2) ... (n - r + 1)(n - r) ... 1

r
=
r ! (n - r) !

n!
n Cr =
r
!
(n
- r) ! .
and it is defined that

n Cr

n!
r ! (n - r) !

n
n Cr =
r

is defined and
.

Therefore, only when n is a positive integer,

Note : 1. n Cr can also be defined as the number of ways (combination) in which r objects can be
selected from n given objects , without reference to their oder of arrangement where
(i) objects are all distinct , (ii) the same object cannot be selected twice.
2. n Pr is the number of ways (permutation) in which r objects to be selected from n given
objects with reference to their order of arrangement n Pr =
Properties of n C r :
n C0 = n C n = 1
(i)
(ii)

n C r = n C n-r
Proof :
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

(iii)

n C r = n-1C r-1 + n-1C r

(Pascal's Identity)
Proof :
n-1C r-1 + n-1C r = _________________________________________________
= _________________________________________________
= _________________________________________________
= _________________________________________________
= _________________________________________________
= _________________________________________________
= _________________________________________________

Binomial Theorem for Positive Integral Indices

When considering the expansion of positive integral powers of (1 + x),

P.M./Binomial/p.2

(1 + x) = 1 + x

(1 + x) 2 = 1 + 2x + x 2

(1 + x) 3 = 1 + 3x + 3x2 + x 3

(1 + x) 4 = 1 + 4x + 6x 2 + 4x 3 + x 4 ;

(1 + x)5 = 1 + 5x + 10x 2 + 10x 3 + 5x 4 + x5 ;

n
the coefficients in the expansion of (1 + x) , where n is a positive integer, can be arranged as
1
1
1
1
1

1
2

3
4

1
3

1
4

1 5 10 10 5 1
---------------------------------This is the Pascal triangle where the elements in each row, apart from the 1 's at the ends, are
obtained by adding the two nearest elements in the row above.
Binomial Theorem
n
If n is a positive integer, (1 + x) can be expressed in binomial expansion as
(1 + x) n = 1 + n C1x + n C2 x 2 + ... + n C r x r + ... + n C n x n
n

r
nC r x

r
n C0 = 1
nC n-r x
)
= r=0
(
r=
0
where the series on the right hand side is called the binomial series or binomial expansion.
Proof : ( by Mathematical Induction )
when n = 1,
L.H.S. = 1 + x
;
R.H.S. = 1 + 1C1 x = 1 + x

L.H.S. = R.H.S.

The theorem is true for n = 1.

k
r
k
(1 + x) = k C r x
Assume the binomial theorem is true for n = k , i.e.
.
r=0
when n = k + 1,
(1 + x) k+1 = ______________________________________________________

or

= ______________________________________________________
= ______________________________________________________
= ______________________________________________________
= ______________________________________________________
= ______________________________________________________

= ______________________________________________________
The theorem is true for n = k + 1.

By Mathematical Induction, the statement is true for any positive integer n.

Note : The Binomial Theorem is also true for x being a complex number.

Properties of the binomial expansion :

1. The expansion has (n + 1) terms.
r
2. In ascending powers of x, the (r + 1) th term is n C r x .
3. The coefficient of x r is n C r which is an integer.

P.M./Binomial/p.3

4.

5.

As n C r = n C n-r , the coefficients of terms equidistant respectively from the beginning and the end
of the expansion are equal.
Similarly,

(1 - x) n =

n C r (-1) r x r

r=0

Binomial Expansion of ( a + b ) n
For any non-zero numbers a and b,
n
b

an 1 +
(a + b) n

a
=
n

an

= r=0
n

Note :

r=
0

OR

nCr a

r=0

( by Binomial Theorem)

r n-r
nCr b a

( n

r)

r n -r
n Cr a b

r n -r
The sum of the powers of a and b in the general term n C r a b
must be n.

Example 1
(a) Expand

+x 3

2x

10

(b) Find the coefficient of

in ascending powers of x up to the 4th term.

x3

in the expansion of

x+x 2
1

12

(a) ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
(b) ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

W.4 Ex.A : Q.1, 2

Greatest Coefficient in Binomial Expansion
P.M./Binomial/p.4
n
In the expansion of (1 + x) , the coefficients of (r + 1)th term and (r + 2)th term in absolute
magnitude are n C r and n C r+1 respectively. Hence, the (r + 1)th coefficient , n C r , will be the
greatest in absolute magnitude iff
nC r

n C r-1

n!

r ! (n - r) !

and

nCr

n!
(r - 1) ! (n - r + 1) !

n C r+1
and

n!

r ! (n - r) !

n!
(r + 1) ! (n - r - 1) !

n - r +1 r

n - 1

2
Case 1 : if n is even

r +1 n - r

and

n + 1
2

and

n + 1
2

n - 1
2

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Case 2 : if n is odd,
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Example 2
18
Find the term with greatest coefficient in absolute value in the expansion of (3 - 5x) .
Solution
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Greatest Term in Binomial Expansion

P.M./Binomial/p.5

The greatest term in the binomial expansion is in the sense of absolute value. Therefore, the greatest
n
n
term in (1 + x) and that in (1 - x) are equal for the same value of x.
Firstly, x can be assumed to be positive.
Let Tr be the (r + 1)th term for r = 0, 1, 2, ... , n.
r
Since Tr = n C r x ,

r+1
Tr+1
n C r+1 x
=
r
Tr
nC r x
n!
r ! (n - r) !

x
n!
= (r + 1) ! (n - r - 1) !
(n - r)x
=
r + 1
Therefore,

>
Tr+1
= 1
Tr
<
>
Tr+1 = Tr
<

>
nx - rx
= 1
r + 1
<
>
nx - 1
= r
x + 1
<

Example 3
Find the greatest term in absolute magnitude in the expansion of
1
(1 + x) 7
when x =
(1 - 2x)8
(a)
; (b)
2
Solution

Tr
( r + 1 > 0 and

when x = 1

>0)

(a) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
nx - 1
In general, if x + 1 is not an integer,
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________
P.M./Binomial/p.6
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
nx - 1
In general, if x + 1 is an integer p,
_______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
n
Note :
Both the greatest coefficient and greatest term of the binomial expansion of (1 + x) and
(1 - x) n are equal when comparing their absolute values for the same x.
Classwork
Find the greatest coefficient and the greatest term in absolute magnitude in the expansion of
( 2x - 7 )10
when
x = -3 .
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
H.W. W.4 Ex.B Q.1 4

W.5 Q.7

Series involving binomial coefficients

(1 + x) n =

r=0
A. By putting x = 1 into (*),

r=0

n
nCr = 2

P.M./Binomial/p.7
r
nCr x

........ (*)

......... (1)

n
Thus the sum of all the binomial coefficients in the expansion of (1 + x) is 2 n .
B. By putting x = -1 into (*),
n
n C r (-1) r = (1 - 1) n = 0
.
.......(2)
r=0
n
n C0 - n C1 + n C2 - n C3 + ... + (-1) n C n = 0
(1) + (2)

) =2 n

) =2 n

2 nC0 + nC2 + nC 4 +...

n-1
n C0 + n C2 + n C4 + ... = 2
(1) - (2)

2 n C1 + nC3 + nC5 +...

n-1
n C1 + n C3 + n C5 + ... = 2

_______________________________________________________________________
Thus the sum of the coefficients of the odd terms of a binomial expansion is equal to the sum of the
coefficients of the even terms.
Classwork

Find r = 0

2r
2n C2r 3

n -1

, r=0

2r+1
2n C2r+1 3

, r=0

r
2n C2r (-3)

and

2n+1 C2r 3r+1

r=0

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
n
r n C r
C. To find the series r=0
, the both sides of (*) are differentiated.
P.M./Binomial/p.8
n
n

d
d
d (1 + x)
r
1+ nC1 x+... + nCn xn
= dx nC r x
d
x

dx
r=
0
=
n
r n C r x r-1
n(1 + x) n-1
= r=1
........ (**)
n
n
n 2 n-1 = r n C r

r n C r = n 2 n-1
Put x = 1,
r=1
r=0

Classwork
n

Find r=0
Solution

(r + 1) n C r

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Example 4
2n

r 2 2n C r

2n

r 2 2n C r (-1) r

n -1

(2r + 1) 2 2n C 2r +1

Find (a) r = 0
(b) r = 0
(c) r = 0
where n > 2 .
Solution
(a) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
(b) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
(c) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Example 5 (2000)
P.M./Binomial/p.9

(a) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
(b) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
n

nC r
r + 1

D. To find the series r = 0

, the both sides of (*) are integrated with respect to x while the
lower limit is 0 and the upper limit is 1.

(1 + x)n dx =

1
(1 + x) n+1
=
n + 1
0
n

1 n

r=0

r
nC r x dx

1
1
r+1
r + 1 n Cr x
r=0
0
n

1
1
2n+1 - 1
nCr =
n +1
r=0 r +1

Classwork
n

Find r = 0
Solution

r
nC r 2
r + 1

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

P.M./Binomial/p.10

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
H.W. W.4 Ex.C Q.1 - 5
E. Vandermonde's Theorem :

For m, n and r being three non-negative integers such that r m + n , then

r
mC r-kn C k = m+n C r
.
k=0
r
mC r-kn C k = mC rn C0 + mC r-1n C1 + ... + mC0n C r
As k=0
,
m
n
when considering (1 + x) (1 + x) ,
(1 + x) m (1 + x) n

m
n
j
i

C
x
C
x

m i
n j
i=0
j=0

=
.
If the right hand side is expanded and only x r terms are considered.
r
0
mC r x n C 0 x
when i = r and j = 0,
r-1
mC r-1 x n C1 x
when i = r - 1 and j = 1,

when i = 0 and j = r,
r

k=0

m C r-kn C k

0
r
mC 0 x n C r x
x r in (1 + x) m (1 + x) n

= coefficient of
r
m+n
= coefficient of x in (1 + x)
= m+n C r

Example 5
n

Find (a)

( nC r )

r=
0

(b)

(-1) r ( nC r )

r=
0

(a) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
(b) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Classwork
P.M./Binomial/p.11
n [ (2n- 1) ! ]
n C1n C2 +2 nC2n C3 +3 nC3n C 4 +... +( n- 1) nCn-1n Cn =
(n- 2) ! (n+1) !

Prove
Solution

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
H.W. W.4 Ex. D Q. 1, 2
Binomial Theorem for a Rational Index

r =0 r

(1 + x) n

For any rational number n, the binomial series

will converge to be
with
x < 1 . When n is a positive integer, it is the same as the binomial theorem for positive integral index.
For x < 1 ,
(1 + x) n = 1 + nx +

n(n - 1) 2
n(n - 1)(n - 2) 3
n(n - 1)(n - 2) ... (n - k + 1) k
x +
x + ... +
x + ...
2!
3!
k!

Since n is a rational number, let

p
q

1+

n =

p
p(p- q)
x+
q
2!

p
q for some relatively prime integers p and q.
x

q

2
+

p(p- q)(p - 2q)

3!

(1 + x) =
Note : If x 1 , then the binomial series is divergent.

x

q

3
+...

Some particular examples with x < 1 :

1. For any positive integer n,
(1 + x) -n
= ________________________________________________________________
= ________________________________________________________________
Similarly,
(1 - x) -n

2.

= ________________________________________________________________

1
1 + x = __________________________________________________________________
= __________________________________________________________________

1
1 - x = __________________________________________________________________

3.

= __________________________________________________________________
P.M./Binomial/p.12
1
(1 + x) 2 = _______________________________________________________________
= _______________________________________________________________
1
xk
the
term in (1 + x) 2 = ________________________________________________
= ________________________________________________
= ________________________________________________
= ________________________________________________

= ________________________________________________
Classwork
xk

1
in (1 - x) 3 .

Find the coefficient of

Solution
k
coefficient of x = __________________________________________________________
= __________________________________________________________
= __________________________________________________________
= __________________________________________________________
= __________________________________________________________
= __________________________________________________________
Example 7 (92)

1
Let f(x) = (x - 1)(2 - x) .
Express f(x) into partial fractions.
Hence, or otherwise, determine a k and b k (k = 0, 1, 2, ... ) such that
f(x) =

ak x k

k=
0

wh en x <1

f(x) =

k=
0

bk
xk

when

x >2

Solution
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

P.M./Binomial/p.13

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
H.W. : W.4 Revision Ex.Q.1 - 3
Application of Binomial Theorem
Example 8
n
2n C2r (-1) r
Find
(a)
r=0

n -1
;

(b)

r=0

2n C2r+1 (-1)

r
.

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Note : Pay attention to the first and second subscripts of the binomial coefficient in the series to be found.
Example 9
Let

(1+x+x 2)

(a) Find r = 0

a 2r

(b) By considering

2n

a r xr

r=
0

and

n -1

r=0

.
a 2r+1

1
1
1+ +

x2

, show that

a r = a 2n -r

) (1+x+x
(c) By using the identity (
2n
(-1) r (a r )2 = a n
show that r = 0
.
1+x 2 +x 4

) (1- x+x 2)

(a) __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

P.M./Binomial/p.14

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
(b) __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
(c) __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
W.4.5 Q.2, 3
W.5 Q.6
H.W. : W.4.5 Q.1, 4
W.5 Q.1 5

END