A25

MATHEMATICS
SUPPORT CENTRE

Title:

Binomial Series

Target: On completion of this worksheet you should be able to use the binomial
series to expand (a + b)n where n is a positive integer.
A binomial expression has two terms:
e.g. x + 2 y , a b, 2 + 3 x .

Exercise
Write down the next line in Pascals Triangle.

We use the Binomial Series to expand

Answer:
1
6

expressions such as ( x 3 y ) .
13

Now

15

20

15

(a + b) 2 = (a + b)(a + b)
= a 2 + ab + ba + b 2
= a 2 + 2ab + b 2
The coefficien ts are 1, 2, 1
(a + b) 3 = (a + b)(a + b) 2
= (a + b)(a 2 + 2ab + b 2 )
= a 3 + 2a 2 b + ab 2 + a 2 b + 2ab 2 + b 3
= a 3 + 3a 2 b + 3ab 2 + b 3
The coefficien ts are 1, 3, 3, 1
Notice that the power of a decreases by 1 in
each term and the power of b increases by 1.
The coefficients can be found from Pascals
Triangle:
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
3

4
5

1
3

6
10

1
4

10

1
5

10

10

(a + b) 4 = a 4 + 4a 3 b + 6a 2 b 2 + 4ab 3 + b 4
Note: The powers of a and b add up to 4

Exercise
Expand the following without multiplying out the
brackets:

1. (a + b) 5

2. (a + b) 6

3. (1 + x) 4

4. (2 + x ) 3

Answers :
1

Each row is generated by adding together the

two numbers in the row above.
e.g.
1
4
+ 6
4 + 1
1

Example
Using the coefficients found from Pascals
Triangle and the pattern found for the powers
of a and b expand (a + b)4.
The power is 4 so the coefficients are in the 4th
row of Pascals Triangle:
1
4
6
4
1
The powers of a are 4, 3, etc. and the powers of
b start in the second term with 1.

Mathematics Support Centre,Coventry University, 2001

1. a 5 + 5a 4 b + 10a 3 b 2 + 10a 2 b 3 + 5ab 4 + b 5

2. a 6 + 6a 5 b + 15a 4 b 2 + 20a 3 b 3 +
15a 2 b 4 + 6ab 5 + b 6
3. 1 + 4 x + 6 x 2 + 4 x 3 + x 4
4. 8 + 12 x + 6 x 2 + x 3

Examples
Expand the following:

Examples
Find the term specified in the following
expansions:

1. ( x + 2 y ) 4
We treat x as a and (2 y ) as b so

1. (a + b)13

( x + 2 y) 4
= x 4 + 4 x 3 ( 2 y ) + 6 x 2 ( 2 y ) 2 + 4 x( 2 y ) 3 + ( 2 y ) 4
= x + 8 x y + 6 x 4 y + 4 x 8 y + 16 y
4

= x 4 + 8 x 3 y + 24 x 2 y 2 + 32 xy 3 + 16 y 4
2. (2 x)
The a is now 2 and b is ( x) so

Exercise Expand the following:

2. (1 2 x )

x 6 term

The power of x is 6 (ie 7th term)

= 8 12 x + 6 x 2 x 3

1. (3x + 2)

13!
13!
=
)
7!(13 7)! 7!6!
The powers add up to 13 so the power of a is 6.
The required term is 1716a6b7
(Use your calculator or

2. (1 + x ) 20

( 2 x ) 3 = 2 3 + 3 2 2 ( x ) + 3 2 ( x ) 2 + ( x ) 3

3. x
x

The power of b is 7.
The coefficient is 13C7 = 1716

Note: This is the 8th term in the expansion.

b 7 term

20!
)
6!(20 6)!
The 7th term is 38760 114 x6 = 38760x6

The coefficient is 20C6 = 38760 (or

Exercise
Find the term specified in the following
expansions:

1. (a + b) 8

b 7 term

Answers :

2. (1 + 5 x) 25

x 2 term

1. 81x 4 + 216 x 3 + 216 x 2 + 96 x + 16

3. (x - y) 9

y 3 term

2. 1 10 x + 40 x 2 80 x 3 + 80 x 4 32 x 5
3 1
3. x 3 3 x + 2
x x

Answers : 8ab 7 , 7500 x 2 , 84 x 6 y 3

Suppose we wanted to expand ( x 3 y )

19

If n is a positive integer then

we

would need to find the coefficients from the

19th row in Pascals Triangle which is time
consuming to find. An alternative method of
finding the coefficients is by formula.
The coefficients for ( a + b) are
4

1
4
6
4
1
The third coefficient can be calculated from

4!
= 6 (4!= 4 3 2 1)
2!(4 2)!
This may seem rather complicated but is much
easier and quicker than using Pascals Triangle if
the power is large.
In the expansion of ( a + b) the coefficient of
n

n!
the b term is
this can be written as
r!(n r )!
n
C r and many calculators have a key to evaluate
r

it.

(a + b) n = a n + na n 1b + n C 2 a n 2 b 2 +
n

C 3 a n 3 b 3 + + b n

There are (n + 1) terms in the expansion.

Example
Find the first three terms of ( 2 x) .
7

(2 x) 7 = 2 7 + 7.2 6 ( x)+ 7 C 2 2 5 ( x ) 2
= 128 448 x + 672 x 2
Exercise
1. Find the first three terms of ( a + b)

2. Find the first three terms of (1 + 4 x)

3. Find the first four terms of (1 x)

Answers :
1. a 16 + 16a 15 b + 120a 14 b 2
2. 1 + 36 x + 576 x 2
3. 1 11x + 55 x 2 165 x 3

Mathematics Support Centre,Coventry University, 2001

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