Math 175

Notes and Learning Goals

Lesson 7-1

Binomial Theorem
The binomial theorem is a theorem from algebra which expands (a + b)k .
Example 1: (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
Example 2: (a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 + b3
Example 3: (a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3 b + 6a2 b2 + 4ab3 + b4
The statement of the binomial theorem is
k  
X
k kn n
(a + b) =
a b
n
n=0
k

 
k
Where
are the binomial coefficients
n
We are interested in a special case of the binomial theorem.
k  
X
k n
k
(1 + x) =
x
n
n=0
We calculate the binomial coefficients as follows.
nterms

}|
{
  z
k
k(k 1)(k 2) (k n + 1)
=
n
n!
Example 1:
Example 2:
Example 3:
Example 4:

 
5
(5)(4)
=
2!
2
 
11
(11)(10)(9)(8)(7)
=
5
5!
 
9
(9)(8)(7)(6)(5)(4)(3)
=
7
7!
 
k
= 1 (Special case)
0

The binomial coefficients can also be calculated using Pascals Triangle.

A common formula for the binomial coefficients is
 
k
k!
=
n
n!(k n)!
Warning! In this course we will be interested in finding the binomial coefficients for fractional
and negative values of k. In these cases the above formula will require factorials of fractional (or
negative) numbers and it is easier to follow the above examples.

Binomial Series
The binomial series extends the binomial theorem to work with fractional and negative powers.
k

(1 + x) =

 
X
k
n=0

xn

The binomial series converges for all |x| < 1.

The binomial series is the Taylor series about x = 0 for functions of the form (1 + x)k .
The binomial coefficients are calculated as before
nterms

}|
{
  z
k
k(k 1)(k 2) (k n + 1)
=
n
n!
But we can use fractional or negative values for k.
4terms

z   }|
   {
1
1
3
5
1
2
2
2
2
Example 1: 2 =
4
4!
7terms

}|
{
  z
3
(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)
Example 2:
=
7
7!
7terms

}|
{
  z
5
(5)(4)(3)(2)(1)(0)(1)
=0
Example 3:
=
7
7!
Example 3 shows that if k is a positive integer then

k
n

= 0 for all n > k.

In the case k is a positive integer the binomial series is the binomial theorem and there are
only a finite number of non-zero terms.
Many useful series are binomial series such as the geometric series, (1 x)1 .
Some elementary functions are integrals of binomial series such as
Z x
dt
Example 1: ln(1 + x) =
0 1+t
Z x
dt
1

Example 2: sin (x) =

1 t2
0

Examples
In these binomial series examples the formula for an is not always obvious. In the assignment you
will only be asked for the first few terms and not required to provide a formula in terms of n.

Example 1: (1 + x)



X
1
n=0

xn

(1)
(1)(2) 2 (1)(2)(3) 3
x+
x +
x +
1!
2!
3!

X
2
3
= 1 x + x x + =
(1)n xn

=1+

n=0

1/2

Example 2: (1 + x)

1
X
2

n=0

xn

( 12 )
( 1 )( 1 )
( 1 )( 1 )( 3
) 3
2
x + 2 2 x2 + 2 2
x +
1!
2!
3!
1
3
15 4
1
x +
= 1 + x x2 + x 3
2
8
48
348

X
1
(1)n1 (2n 3)! n
=1+ x+
x
2n2 n!(n 2)!
2
2
n=2

=1+

2 1/2

Example 3: (1 x )

 1 
X
2
xn
=
n
n=0

3

 
1
1
2
=1+
(x2 ) + 2
(x2 )2 +
2
2!
1
3
5
= 1 + x2 + x4 + x6 +
2
8
16

X
(2n)! 2n
=
x
4n (n!)2
n=0

Z xX

dt
(2n)! 2n

Example 3*: sin (x) =

=
t dt
n
2
2
1t
0
0 n=0 4 (n!)

Z x
1 2 3 4
5 6
=
1 + t + t + t + dt
2
8
16
0
1 3
3 5
5 7
x +
=x+ x + x +
6
40
112

X
(2n)!
=
x2n+1
n (n!)2 (2n + 1)
4
n=0
1

1
2

3
2

3!

5
2

(x2 )3 +