The Binomial Theorem

So we saw in class that

( a + b )n = a n + nC1a n1b + nC2 a n2b 2 +!+ nCn1ab n1 + b n

With a particular case being
(1+ x )n = 1+ nx + nC2 x 2 +!+ nCn1x n1 + x n

So let us look two kinds of examples

Example
Given that ! (1+ kx ) = 1+ 12x + px 2 + qx 3
8

i) Find k, p and q.
ii) Using your values of k, p and q, find the numerical coefficient of the ! x 3 term in the
expansion of ! (1 x ) (1+ kx )
8

Solution
i) We can use our formula to expand ! (1+ kx ) up to the term with ! x 3 and then equate
8

coefficients to find k, p and q. Here we go

(! 1+ kx )8 = 1+ 8 ( kx ) + 8C2 ( kx )2 + 8C3 ( kx )3 +!
= 1+ 8kx + 28k 2 x 2 + 56k 3 x 3 +!

Equating coefficients we have

8k = 12
! 28k 2 = p
56k 3 = q

3
Which we can solve to get ! k = , p = 63 and q = 189 .
2
ii) Now we want the term with ! x 3 from ! (1 x ) (1+ kx ) so we need to think about how we can
8

arrive at a term with ! x 3 from the above product.

8
3x
8

2
(
! (1 x ) (1+ kx ) = (1 x ) 1+ = (1 x ) 1+ 12x + 63x 2 + 189x 3 +! )
So a term in ! x 3 arises from the following products ! 1 189x 3 and ! x 63x 2 and we can write
for our purposes
( )
! (1 x ) 1+ 12x + 63x 2 + 189x 3 +! = !+ 189x 3 63x 3 +!
So finally, our term in ! x is ! 126x and our coefficient in 126.
3 3
Example
a) Use the binomial series to expand ! ( 2 3x ) in ascending power of x up to an including the
10

term in ! x 3 .
b) Use your series expansion with a suitable value for x to obtain an estimate for ! (1.97 ) giving
10

your answer to 2 decimal places

Solution
a) We can do our expansion by plugging into formula with ! a = 2 and ! b = 3x . So we have
( 2 3x )10 = 210 + 10C1 2101 ( 3x ) + 10C2 2102 ( 3x )2 + 10C3 2103 ( 3x )3 +!
! = 210 + 10 2 9 ( 3x ) + 45 2 8 9x 2 + 120 2 7 27x 3 +!
= 1024 15360x + 103680x 2 414720x 3 +!

b) To use our expansion we need to find the value of x that makes ! 2 3x = 1.97 which is 0.01.
So now we can substitute into ! 1024 15360x + 103680x 2 414720x 3 +! with ! x = 0.01

! 1.9710 ! 1024 15360 ( 0.01) + 103680 ( 0.01) 414720 ( 0.01) = 880.35

2 3

Particular Terms of a Binomial Expansion

So what I expected you to arrive at from the homework that I assigned at the end of the last class
is that

In general, the term ! U r +1 involving ! x r in the expansion of ! ( a + x ) is given by ! nCr a n r x r

n

This is particularly useful as we can use this information to find the term involving ! x raised to any
power.

Example. Find the term involving ! x12 in the expansion of ! ( 3 + 2x )

15

Solution

From above we can see that the term involving ! x12 will be given by ! nCr a n r x r and
Substitution ! a = 3, 2x for x, and n = 15, and r = 12 we have
C12 31512 ( 2x ) = 455 33 ( 2x )
15 12 12

! = 455 9 212 x12

= 16773120x12
We can also use our formula to find the term independent of ! x in our expansion. By independent of
! x we mean the constant term. Lets see an example.

18
2
Example. Find the term independent of ! x in the binomial expansion of ! 3x 2
x
Solution
Again, the general term in this expansion can be given by substituting
2
! a = 3x, - 2 for x, and n = 18 . We thus have
x

Cr ( 3x )
18 r 2
r
18 r 18 r ( 2 ) r

2 = Cr 3 x
18 18

( )
r
x x2

! = 18Cr 318 r x18 r

( 2 )r
x 2r
= 18Cr 318 r x18 r 2r ( 2 )
r

= 18Cr 318 r ( 2 ) x18 3r

r

Therefore our term will be independent of ! x if ! 18 3r = 0 , i.e ! r = 6

Thus the required term is
! 18C6 312 ( 2 )
6

Which is a very large number so it is fine to leave as is.

Note that in all cases the term involving ! x r is always the ! ( r + 1) th term.
For example, the term involving ! x 5 is the 6th term, the term involving ! x is the 2nd term etc.

Exercises

1. Find the term involving ! x 5 in the expansion of ! ( 3 + 2x )

8

2. Find the 4th term when ! ( 2 x ) is expanded in ascending powers of ! x

9

[Hint: You should note that this is the term with ! x 3 ]

3. Find the coefficient of ! x 3 in the expansion of ! ( 7 2x )
7

6
3
4. Find the term independent of ! x in the expansion of ! 2 2x
x
6
2
5. Find the coefficient of ! x 2 in the expansion of ! x + .
x

Challenge
10
1
Find the term independent of ! x in the expansion of ! 1 + x 2x +
x
( 2
)