Binomial Theorem: Pascal's Triangle
Binomial Theorem: Pascal's Triangle
Binomial Theorem: Pascal's Triangle
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
Binomial Series
The binomial series extends the binomial theorem to work with fractional and negative powers.
k
(1 + x) =
X
k
n=0
xn
}|
{
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
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
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
X
(2n)!
=
x2n+1
n (n!)2 (2n + 1)
4
n=0
1
1
2
3
2
3!
5
2
(x2 )3 +