PROBLEMS

Binomial Expansion
Activity:
Board work
1. Expand (x + 1)6
2. Expand (2x + x)7
3. Expand (2x 3)5
Seatwork:
Multiple choices. Show your solution. 5 pts each. 2 pts if no solution.
1. Expand (3x 5)4
a.
b.
c.
d.

81x4 + 540x3 + 1,350x2 + 1,500x + 625

81x4 - 540x3 + 1,350x2 - 1,500x + 625
81x4 - 270x3 + 675x2 - 1,500x + 625
81x4 - 540x3 + 1,350x2 - 750x + 3,125

2. What is the binomial expansion of (x + 1)8?

a.
b.
c.
d.

x8 + 1
x8 + 8x7 + 16x6 + 24x5 + 32x4 + 24x3 + 16x2 + 8x + 1
x8 + 7x7 + 21x6 + 35x5 + 35x4 + 21x3 + 7x2 + 1
x8 + 8x7 + 28x6 + 56x5 + 70x4 + 56x3 + 28x2 + 8x + 1

3. What is the 5th term in the expansion of (x + 2)7 (in decreasing powers of x)?
a.
b.
c.
d.

84x5
280x4
280x3
560x3

4. What is the 3rd term in the expansion of (y 3)6 (in decreasing powers of y)?
a.
b.
c.
d.
5. What is the 7th term in the expansion of (5x + 2)8 (in decreasing powers of x)?
a.
b.

c.
d.
Answers:
Activity
1.
Use the sixth row of Pascal's triangle to find the coefficients:
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
Therefore (x + 1)6 = x6 + 6x5 + 15x4 + 20x3 + 15x2 + 6x + 1
2.
Use the seventh row of Pascal's triangle to find the coefficients:
1

21 35 35 21 7

Therefore (2 + x)7
= 27 + (7 26 x) + (21 25 x2) + (35 24 x3) + (35 23 x4) + (21 22 x5) +
(7 2 x6) + x7
= 128 + 448x + 672x2 + 560x3 + 280x4 + 84x5 + 14x6 + x7
3.
Use the fifth row of Pascal's triangle to find the coefficients:
1 5 10 10 5 1
Therefore (2x - 3)5
= (2x)5 + 5 (2x)4 (-3) + 10 (2x)3 (-3)2 + 10 (2x)2 (-3)3
+ 5 2x (-3)4 + (-3)5
= 32x5 - 240x4 + 720x3 - 1,080x2 + 810x 243

Seatwork:
1.
Use the fourth row of Pascal's triangle to find the coefficients:
1

6 4

Therefore (3x - 5)4

= (3x)4 + 4 (3x)3 (-5) + 6 (3x)2 (-5)2 + 4 (3x) (-5)3 + (-5)4
= 81x4 - 540x3 + 1,350x2 - 1,500x + 625

2.
Go to the eighth row of Pascal's triangle:
1

28 56 70 56 28 8

These numbers give us the coefficients in the binomial expansion.

Therefore
(x + 1)8 = x8 + 8x7 + 28x6 + 56x5 + 70x4 + 56x3 + 28x2 + 8x + 1
3.

4.

5.

Normal Distribution
Seatwork
Multiple choices. Show your solution. 5 pts each. 2 pts if no solution.
1.
The Fresha Tea Company pack tea in bags marked as 250 g
A large number of packs of tea were weighed and the mean and standard deviation were calculated as
255 g and 2.5 g respectively.
Assuming this data is normally distributed, what percentage of packs are underweight?

a. 2.5%
b. 3.4%
c. 1.3%
d. 7.5%
Answer:
The following diagram shows 1, 2 and 3 standard deviations on either side of the mean:

250 g is two standard deviations below the mean

Since 95% of packs are within 2 standard deviations of the mean, it follows that 5% 2 = 2.5% of packs
were underweight.
2.
Students pass a test if they score 50% or more.
The marks of a large number of students were sampled and the mean and standard deviation were
calculated as 42% and 8% respectively.
Assuming this data is normally distributed, what percentage of students pass the test?

a. 5%
b. 16%

c. 24%
d. 32%
Answer:
The following diagram shows 1, 2 and 3 standard deviations on either side of the mean:

50% is one standard deviation above the mean

Since 68% of marks are within 1 standard deviation of the mean, it follows that 32% will be more than 1
standard deviation from the mean.
And the half of those that are on the high side will pass.
So 32% 2 = 16% of students pass.
3.
A company makes parts for a machine. The lengths of the parts must be within certain limits or they will
be rejected.
A large number of parts were measured and the mean and standard deviation were calculated as 3.1 m
and 0.005 m respectively.
Assuming this data is normally distributed and 99.7% of the parts were accepted, what are the limits?
Answer:
99.7% is 3 standard deviations on either side of the mean.
The following diagram shows 1, 2 and 3 standard deviations on either side of the mean:

So the lengths of the parts must be between 3.085 m and 3.115 m

4.
The mean June midday temperature in Desertville is 36C and the standard deviation is 3C
Assuming this data is normally distributed, how many days in June would you expect the midday
temperature to be between 39C and 42C?
Answer:
39C is one standard deviation above the mean and 42C is two standard deviations above the mean:

Therefore we would expect the temperature to be between 39C and 42C on 13.6% of the days
(9.2% + 4.4% = 13.6%)
There are 30 days in June
13.6% of 30 = 4.08 = 4 to the nearest day
5.
The heights of male adults are Normally distributed with mean 1.7 m and standard deviation 0.2 m
In a population of 400 male adults, how many would you expect to have a height between 1.4 m and 1.6
m?

You can use this Standard Normal Distribution curve:

Answer:
1.6 m is half a standard deviation below the mean and 1.4 m is one and a half standard deviations below
the mean:

Therefore the percentage of male adults with heights between 1.4 m and 1.6 m
= 15.0% + 9.2% = 24.2%
24.2% of 400 = 96.8
Therefore we would expect 97 male adults with heights between 1.4 m and 1.6 m

Binomial Distribution
Seatwork
Multiple Choices. Show your solution. 5 pts each. 2 pts if no solution.
1.
A company makes electronic components for TV's.
95% pass final inspection (and 5% fail and need to be fixed).
120 components are inspected in one day. What is the expected number that fail in one day?

a. 3
b. 5
c. 2
d. 6
Answer:
'Expected number' is the same as 'mean'.

2.
A company makes electronic components for TV's.
95% pass final inspection (and 5% fail and need to be fixed).
120 components are inspected in one day. What is the variance of the number that pass inspection in
one day?

a. 2.5
b. 4.58
c. 5.7
d. 10.7
Answer:

3.
A fair cubical die is thrown four times.
Use the binomial probability formula to calculate the probability of exactly two 5's.

a. 4/72
b. 11/108
c. 1/9
d. 25/216
Answer: