PUERTO PRINCESA CITY NATIONAL SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL

Brgy. Sta. Monica, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan 5300

Tel. No. (048) 434-0977/Email: 301791@[Link]

BINOMIAL THEOREM

The Binomial Theorem can be restated as follows:

𝑛
𝑛
(𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 = ∑ ( ) 𝑎 𝑟 𝑏𝑛−𝑟 , 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝜖ℝ, 𝑏𝜖ℝ
𝑟
𝑟=0

𝑛
The notation ( ) is referred to as binomial coefficient, and is read as “combination of n taken r at a
𝑟
time”, is defined as
𝑛 𝑛!
( )= 𝑓𝑜𝑟 0 ≤ 𝑟 ≤ 𝑛
𝑟 𝑟! (𝑛 − 𝑟)!
Example:

5 5!
( )=
2 2! (5 − 2)!
5 (5)(4)(3)(2)(1)
( )= = 10
2 (2)(1)[(3)(2)(1)]

The expansion of the algebraic expression (𝑥 + 𝑦)𝑛 can be done using the binomial (𝑥 + 𝑦)as a
factor 𝑛 times. But if patterns are established, raining any binomial to a positive integral exponent
can be done more easily. Look at the following expansions of (𝑥 + 𝑦).

(𝑥 + 𝑦)0 =1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)1 =𝑥+𝑦
(𝑥 + 𝑦)2 = 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 2
(𝑥 + 𝑦)3 = 𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 2 𝑦 + 3𝑥𝑦 2 + 𝑦 3
(𝑥 + 𝑦)4 = 𝑥 4 + 4𝑥 3 𝑦 + 6𝑥 2 𝑦 2 + 4𝑥𝑦 3 + 𝑦 4
(𝑥 + 𝑦)5 = 𝑥 5 + 5𝑥 4 𝑦 + 10𝑥 3 𝑦 2 + 10𝑥 2 𝑦 3 + 5𝑥𝑦 4 + 𝑦 5
(𝑥 + 𝑦)6 = 𝑥 6 + 6𝑥 5 𝑦 + 15𝑥 4 𝑦 2 + 20𝑥 3 𝑦 3 + 15𝑥 2 𝑦 4 + 6𝑥𝑦 5 + 𝑦 6
(𝑥 + 𝑦)7 = 𝑥 7 + 7𝑥 6 𝑦 + 21𝑥 5 𝑦 2 + 35𝑥 4 𝑦 3 + 35𝑥 3 𝑦 4 + 21𝑥 2 𝑦 5 + 7𝑥𝑦 6 + 𝑦 7

From these expansions, the following general observations are derived when the binomial (𝑥 + 𝑦) is
raised to 𝑛.

1. The expansion has 𝑛 + 1 terms.

2. The exponent of 𝑥 in the first term of the expansion is 𝑛. The exponent decreases by 1
from one term to another term. The exponent of 𝑥 in the last term of the expansion is
0.
3. The exponent of 𝑦 in the first term of the expansion is 0. The exponent increases by 1
from one term to another term. The exponent of 𝑦 in the last term of the expansion is
𝑛.
4. The sum of the exponent of 𝑥 and 𝑦 in each term of the exponent is 𝑛. The numerical
coefficients in the expansion also follow a definite pattern.

If only coefficients are written, they will appear in this manner:

(𝑥 + 𝑦)0 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)1 1 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)2 1 2 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)3 1 3 3 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)4 1 4 6 4 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)5 1 5 10 10 5 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)6 1 6 15 20 15 6 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)7 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1

This pattern of numbers is known as the Pascal’s Triangle. Observe that each row of the Pascal’s Triangle
is formed by adding elements of the previous row in pairs. Each row starts and ends with 1.
Example 1: Use Pascal’s Triangle to expand (𝒙 + 𝒚)𝟗 .
Solution: Note that the coefficient of the first term is 1. The coefficient of the nth term of the expansion
of (𝑥 + 𝑦)𝑛+1 is simply the sum of the coefficients of the (𝑛 − 1)𝑡ℎ and 𝑛𝑡ℎ terms of the expansion
(𝑥 + 𝑦)𝑛 .

(𝑥 + 𝑦)7 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1

(𝑥 + 𝑦)8 1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1

(𝑥 + 𝑦)9 1 9 36 84 126 126 84 36 9 1

Hence,
(𝑥 + 𝑦)9 = 𝑥 9 + 9𝑥 8 𝑦 + 36𝑥 7 𝑦 2 + 84𝑥 6 𝑦 3 + 126𝑥 5 𝑦 4 + 126𝑥 4 𝑦 5 + 84𝑥 3 𝑦 6 + 36𝑥 2 𝑦 7 + 9𝑥𝑦 8 + 𝑦 9

Pascal’s triangle can be shown in the following manner.

(𝑥 + 𝑦)0 1
(𝑥 + 𝑦)1 1 1
2
(𝑥 + 𝑦 )2 1 1
1
3 3
(𝑥 + 𝑦)3 1 1
1 1
4 4∙3 4
(𝑥 + 𝑦)4 1 1
1 1∙2 1
5 5∙4 5∙4 5
(𝑥 + 𝑦)5 1 1
1 1∙2 1∙2 1
6 6∙5 6∙5∙4 6∙5 6
(𝑥 + 𝑦)6 1 1
1 1∙2 1∙2∙3 1∙2 1

Observe the repeated occurrence of product of consecutive integers. This product can be simplified
in a notation called factorial notation. For instance,

1=1
1 ∙ 2 = 2 ∙ 1 = 2!
1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3 = 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 3!
1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3 ∙ 4 = 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 4!
1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3 ∙ 4 ∙ 5 = 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 5!

Definition of 𝒏!
The factorial of a number 𝑛! (read as “𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙”) is defined as 𝑛! = 2(𝑛 − 1)(𝑛 − 2)(𝑛 − 3) … 3 ∙
2 ∙ 1, where 𝑛 is a positive integer.

By definition, 0! = 1.

10!
Example 2 Evaluate 3!7!

Solution:
10 10 ∙ 9 ∙ 8 ∙ 7 ∙ 6 ∙ 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1
= = 120
3! 7! (3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1)(7 ∙ 6 ∙ 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1)

The pattern in the algebraic expansion of the power of a binomial can be contracted.
This contraction is referred to as the binomial theorem. This theorem states the probability of
expanding the power (𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛 as sum involving the terms of the form 𝑟𝑎 2 𝑏𝑡 , 𝑟 > 0, 𝑠 > 0, 𝑡 >
0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠 + 𝑡 = 𝑛.

BINOMIAL THEOREM

If n is a positive integer, then

𝒏 𝒏(𝒏−𝟏) 𝒏(𝒏−𝟏)(𝒏−𝟐)
(𝒂 + 𝒃)𝒏 = 𝒂𝒏 + 𝒂𝒏−𝟏 𝒃 𝒂𝒏−𝟐 𝒃𝟐 + 𝒂𝒏−𝟑 𝒃𝟑 + ⋯ + 𝒃𝒏.
𝟏! 𝟐! 𝟑!
Example 3 Expand (𝑥 + 2)5

Solution: Using the binomial theorem where 𝑛 = 5,

5 5(5 − 1) 5−2 2 5(5 − 1)(5 − 2) 5−3 3
(𝑥 + 2)5 = 𝑥 5 + 𝑥 5−1 (2) + 𝑥 (2) + 𝑥 (2)
1! 2! 3!
5(5 − 1)(5 − 2)(5 − 3) 5−4 4 5(5 − 1)(5 − 2)(5 − 3)(5 − 4) 5−5 5
+ 𝑥 (2) + 𝑥 (2)
4! 5!
𝟓 𝟓 𝟒 𝟑 𝟐
(𝒙 + 𝟐) = 𝒙 + 𝟏𝟎𝒙 + 𝟒𝟎𝒙 + 𝟖𝟎𝒙 + 𝟖𝟎𝒙 + 𝟑𝟐
If only a particular term in the expansion is desired, the following formula can be used.
The rth term of (𝑎 + 𝑏)𝑛
𝑛(𝑛 − 1)(𝑛 − 2) … (𝑛 − 𝑟 + 2) 𝑛−𝑟+1 𝑟−1
𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑎 𝑏 .
(𝑟 − 1)!

Example 4 – Find the 7th term of (2 − 𝑥𝑦)11

Given 𝑛 = 11, 𝑟 = 7, 𝑎 = 2, 𝑏 = −𝑥𝑦
First, find 𝑛 − 𝑟 + 2: 𝑛 − 𝑟 + 2 = 11 − 7 + 2 = 6

7th term of (2 − 𝑥𝑦)11

11(11 − 1)(11 − 2)(11 − 3)(11 − 4)(11 − 5)

= (2)11−7+1 (−𝑥𝑦)7−1
(7 − 1)!

11 ∙ 10 ∙ 9 ∙ 8 ∙ 7 ∙ 6
= (2)5 (−𝑥𝑦)6
(6)(5)(4)(3)(2)(1)!

= (720)32𝑥 6 𝑦 6
= 23 040 𝑥 6 𝑦 6

The expansion of (𝑥 + 2)5 can be done as follows:

5
5
(𝑥 + 2)5 = ∑ ( ) 𝑥 5−𝑟 (2)𝑟
𝑟
𝑟=0

5 5 5 5 5 5
= ( ) 𝑥 5 (2)0 + ( ) 𝑥 4 (2)1 + ( ) 𝑥 3 (2)2 + ( ) 𝑥 2 (2)3 + ( ) 𝑥(2)4 + ( ) 𝑥 0 (2)5
0 1 2 3 4 5
5! 5! 5! 5! 5!
= 𝑥5 + 𝑥 4 (2) + 𝑥 3 (4) + 𝑥 2 (8) + 𝑥(16)
(5
0! − 0)! (5
1! − 1)! (5
2! − 2)! (5
3! − 3)! (5
4! − 4)!
5!
+ (32)
5! (5 − 5)!
5! 5 5! 5! 5! 5! 5!
= 𝑥 + (2𝑥 4 ) + (4𝑥 3 ) + (8𝑥 2 ) + (16𝑥) + (32)
0! 5! 1! 4! 2! 3! 3! 2! 4! 1! 5! 0!
= 𝑥 5 + 10𝑥 4 + 40𝑥 3 + 80𝑥 2 + 80𝑥 + 32

Example 5 - Expand (𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏)𝟔

Solution:
Given 𝑎 = 2𝑥, 𝑏 = −1, 𝑛 = 6
An important theorem that involves binomial coefficient is known as the Pascal’s Rule.

PASCAL’S RULE
For 𝑛 > 0, 1 ≤ 𝑟 ≤ 𝑛,
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛+1
( )+( )=( )
𝑟 𝑟−1 𝑟
For instance,
7 7 8
( )+( ) =( )
5 4 5
Evaluate:
7 7! 7! (7)(6)(5!)
( )= = = = 21
5 5! (7 − 5)! 5! 2! 5! (2)(1)
7 7! 7! (7)(6)(5)(4!)
( )= = = = 35
4 4! (7 − 4)! 4! 3! 4! (3)(2)(1)
8 8! 8! (8)(7)(6)(5!)
( )= = = = 56
5 5! (8 − 5)! 5! 3! 5! (2)(1)
7 7 8
( )+( ) =( )
5 4 5
𝟐𝟏 + 𝟑𝟓 = 𝟓𝟔.
 6
6
(2𝑥 − 1)6 = ∑ ( ) (2𝑥)𝑟 (−1)6−𝑟
𝑟
𝑟=0