Learning Guide Module

Subject Code Math 3 Mathematics 3

Module Code 13.0 Pascal’s Triangle
Lesson Code 13.3 Binomial Expansion 2
Time Frame 30 minutes

TARGET Time Allocation: 1 minute

Actual Time Allocation: _____ minutes

By the end of this lesson, the students will have been able to find a particular term in a
binomial expansion.

HOOK Time Allocation: 4 minutes

Actual Time Allocation: _____ minutes

In the previous learning guide, we have explored the different patterns evident in binomial
expansion. We have noticed that each expanded binomial has one more term than the given power of
the binomial. As we add the exponents in each term in the expansion, it is equal to the power of the
binomial. Using (𝒂 + 𝒃)𝒏 , the powers on a in the binomial expansion is decreasing by 1 for each
successive term, but the powers on b is increasing by 1 and the coefficients in the expansion create a
symmetrical pattern.
To find the coefficients as we raise a binomial to any whole number exponent, a Pascal's triangle
can be constructed continuously. The elements in the triangle that were arranged in the array could be
expressed using the factorial symbol (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Pascal’s Triangle

(Image source:
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/algebra/algebra-ii/additional-topics/binomial-coefficients-and-the-binomial-theorem)

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 IGNITE Time Allocation: 15 minutes
Actual Time Allocation: _____ minutes

Let us explore how we can find a particular term as we do binomial expansion.

General Formula for (𝒂 + 𝒃)𝒏

Simply, we need to have the definition below.

Definition: 𝒏! represents the product of the first n positive integers.

𝑛! = 𝑛(𝑛 − 1)(𝑛 − 2) … (3)(2)(1)

We read n! as "n factorial".

Example 1 Finding Factorial Values

Take these examples.
(a) 4! = (4)(3)(2)(1) = 24
(b) 6! = (6)(5)(4)(3)(2)(1) = 720
(c) 3! 4! = (3)(2)(1)(4)(3)(2)(1) = 144
8!
Note: We cannot cancel to 4!.
2!

Binomial Theorem Formula

As we recall the properties of binomial expansion, the binomial theorem asserts that
the binomial formula (as shown below) is valid for all positive integer values of n:

𝑛(𝑛 − 1) 𝑛−2 2 𝑛(𝑛 − 1))(𝑛 − 2) 𝑛−3 3

(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛 + 𝑛𝑎𝑛−1 𝑏 + 𝑎 𝑏 + 𝑎 𝑏 + . . . + 𝑏𝑛
2! 3!

This can be written more simply as:

(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = 𝑛𝐶𝑜 𝑎𝑛 + 𝑛𝐶1 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑏 + 𝑛𝐶2 𝑎𝑛−2 𝑏 2 + 𝑛𝐶3 𝑎𝑛−3 𝑏 3 + . . . + 𝑛𝐶𝑛 𝑏𝑛

or

𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = ( ) 𝑎𝑛 + ( ) 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑏 + ( ) 𝑎𝑛−2 𝑏 2 +. . . + ( ) 𝑎𝑛−𝑟 𝑏 𝑟 +. . , + ( ) 𝑏 𝑛
0 1 2 𝑟 𝑛
𝑛
𝑛
(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = ∑ ( ) 𝑎𝑛−𝑟 𝑏 𝑟
𝑟
𝑟=0

 n
The (𝒓 + 𝟏)𝒔𝒕 term is t r +1 =  a n −r b r .
r 

Tip: We may opt to use the nCr button in a scientific calculator to help us find these values.
This can also be written as nCr.

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Using the Binomial Theorem to Find a Single Term

Expanding a binomial with a higher exponent such as (𝑥 + 2𝑦)16 can be a lengthy process.

Oftentimes, we are interested only in a certain term of a binomial expansion. We do not need
to fully expand a binomial to find a particular term.

Note that the pattern of coefficients in the expansion of (𝑥 + 𝑦)5 can be written as

5 5 5 5 5 5
(𝑥 + 𝑦)5 = ( ) 𝑥 5 𝑦 0 + ( ) 𝑥 4 𝑦 + ( ) 𝑥 3 𝑦 2 + ( ) 𝑥 2 𝑦 3 + ( ) 𝑥𝑦 4 + ( ) 𝑥 0 𝑦 5
0 1 2 3 4 5

We can find the second term using (51)𝑥 4 𝑦. For the third term, we have (52)𝑥 3 𝑦 2 . We can
simplify the result to find a specific term as

𝒏
( ) 𝒙𝒏−𝒓 𝒚𝒓
𝒓

Let us have the following examples. Try to explore!

Example 1 Find the sixth term of (3𝑥 + 𝑦)9 .

Solution: Since we are to find the sixth term, 𝑟 + 1 = 6, we will use 𝑟 = 5. (If we are to expand the
binomial, there will be 10 terms and r starts from 0)

𝒏 𝟗
( ) 𝒙𝒏−𝒓𝒚𝒓 ⇒ ( ) (3𝑥)9−5 (𝒚)𝟓 = (126)(81𝑥 4 )(𝑦 5 ) = 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟔𝒙𝟒 𝒚𝟓
𝒓 𝟓

Example 2 Find the tenth term of (𝒙 − 𝟐𝒚)𝟏𝟔 .

Solution: Since we are to find the tenth term, 𝑟 + 1 = 10, we will use 𝑟 = 9. (Note: If we will fully
expand the binomial, we will have 17 terms and r starts from 0)

𝒏 𝟏𝟔
( ) 𝒙𝒏−𝒓 𝒚𝒓 ⇒ ( ) (𝑥)16−9 (−𝟐𝒚)𝟗 = (11440)(𝑥 7 )(−512𝑦 9 ) = −𝟓, 𝟖𝟓𝟕, 𝟐𝟖𝟎𝒙𝟕 𝒚𝟗
𝒓 𝟗

2 8
Example 3 Determine the fourth term of the binomial expansion of (𝑥 + ) .
𝑥

Solution:

𝑛 8 2 3 8! 8
( ) 𝑥 𝑛−𝑟 𝑦 𝑟 ⇒ ( ) (𝑥)8−3 ( ) = ( ) (𝑥 5 ) ( 3 ) = 8 ∙ 8 ∙ 7 ∙ 𝑥 2 = 𝟒𝟒𝟖𝒙𝟐
𝑟 3 𝑥 5! 3! 𝑥

Example 4 Find the term of the binomial expansion of ( 𝑥 + 𝑥 −1 )8 which do not contain 𝑥.
Solution:

Let the term which do not contain 𝑥 be the 𝑘𝑡ℎ term. Since 𝑟 + 1 = 𝑘, then 𝑟 = 𝑘 − 1. Hence,

8 8 1 𝑘−1
( ) 𝑥 8−(𝑘−1) (𝑥 −1 )𝑘−1 ⇒ ( ) 𝑥 9−𝑘 ( )
𝑘−1 𝑘−1 𝑥

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 8 9−𝑘
1 𝑘−1
( )𝑥 ( )
𝑘−1 𝑥
The term without an 𝑥 variable technically has a literal coefficient of 𝑥 0 . We equate the
literal coefficient to 𝑥 0 , thus, we have

𝑥 9−𝑘 ∙ (𝑥 −1 )𝑘−1 = 𝒙𝟎
𝑥 (9−𝑘+(−1(𝑘−1)) = 𝑥 0

9 − 𝑘 + (−𝑘) + 1 = 0 (Applying the rule in solving

exponential equation)
Then, solving for k,

2𝑘 = 10 ⇒ 𝑘 = 𝟓

Using k = 5, we have
8 8 8
( ) 𝑥 8−(𝑘−1) (𝑥 −1 )𝑘−1 ⇒ ( ) 𝑥 8−4 (𝑥 −1 )4 = ( ) 𝑥 4 ∙ 𝑥 −4 = 𝟕𝟎
𝑘−1 4 4

Example 5 Find the term of the binomial expansion of (2𝑥 3 + 𝑥 −1 )10 that contains 𝑥 6 .
Solution:

10 10 1 𝑘−1
( ) (2𝑥 3 )10−(𝑘−1) (𝑥 −1 )𝑘−1 ⇒ ( ) (2𝑥 3 )11−𝑘 ( )
𝑘−1 𝑘−1 𝑥

10
( ) (2𝑥 3 )11−𝑘 (𝑥 −1 )𝑘−1
𝑘−1

Equating the literal coefficient of this term to 𝑥 6 , we have

𝑥 33−3𝑘 ∙ 𝑥 1−𝑘 = 𝒙𝟔
(𝟑𝟑 − 𝟑𝒌) + (𝟏 − 𝒌) = 𝟔
Then, solving for k, we have

4𝑘 = 28 ⇒ 𝑘 = 𝟕
Solving for the term containing 𝑥 6 ,
10 10 10
( ) (2𝑥 3 )10−(𝑘−1) (𝑥 −1 )𝑘−1 ⇒ ( ) (2𝑥 3 )10−6 (𝑥 −1 )6 = ( ) (2𝑥 3 )4 (𝑥 −6 )
𝑘−1 6 6

⇒ (10
6
)16𝑥12 ∙ 𝑥−6 = (10
6
)16𝑥6 = 𝟑𝟑𝟔𝟎𝒙𝟔

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 NAVIGATE Time Allocation: 8 minutes
Actual Time Allocation: _____ minutes

Find the coefficients specified in each item. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are graded.

1. 𝑥 3 in (1 + 2𝑥)4
1 6
*2. 𝑎4 in (6 − 𝑎)
2
3. 𝑞 6 in (2𝑝 + 5𝑞)9
*4. 𝑘 4 in (3𝑘 − 2𝑙)12
5 10
5. 𝑛7 in (5 − 𝑛)
6

KNOT Time Allocation: 2 minutes

Actual Time Allocation: _____ minutes

Be reminded that the binomial theorem states that the binomial formula for all positive integer
values of n is valid. It follows as shown below.

𝑛(𝑛 − 1) 𝑛−2 2 𝑛(𝑛 − 1))(𝑛 − 2) 𝑛−3 3

(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛 + 𝑛𝑎𝑛−1 𝑏 + 𝑎 𝑏 + 𝑎 𝑏 + . . . + 𝑏𝑛
2! 3!

or

𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = ( ) 𝑎𝑛 + ( ) 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑏 + ( ) 𝑎𝑛−2 𝑏 2 +. . . + ( ) 𝑎𝑛−𝑟 𝑏 𝑟 +. . , + ( ) 𝑏 𝑛
0 1 2 𝑟 𝑛

To find a particular term in a binomial expansion, we use (𝒏𝒓)𝒙𝒏−𝒓𝒚𝒓. We may opt to use the nCr
button in a scientific calculator to help us find these values.

References:

Bourne, M. (2020). The Binomial Theorem

https://www.intmath.com/series-binomial-theorem/4-binomial-theorem.php
Cliffnotes Website. (n.d). Binomial Coefficients and the Binomial Theorem
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/algebra/algebra-ii/additional-topics/binomial-
coefficients-and-the-binomial-theorem
Stapel, Elizabeth. (2020). The Binomial Theorem: Formulas." Purplemath.
https://www.purplemath.com/modules/binomial.htm.
Swokowski, E.A. & Cole, J.A. (2011). Algebra and Trigonometry with Topics on Analytic Geometry.
Serah Printing Press

Prepared by: FREDERICK F. FAZ Reviewed by: MARIA GENILE C. CABALLERO

Position: Special Science Teacher II Position: Special Science Teacher IV
Campus: MIMAROPA Campus Campus: Central Mindanao Campus
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Answer Key

Navigate

1. 32

3. 10,500,000𝑝 3

510 9,765,625 48,828,125

5. −120 × = −120 × =−
67 279,936 11,664

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