x a

n
 A binomial is a polynomial with two terms such as x + a. Often we
need to raise a binomial to a power. In this section we'll explore a way
to do just that without lengthy multiplication.

0
x a 1 Can you see a
x a x a pattern?
1

Can you make a

x a x 2ax a
2 2 2
guess what the next
one would be?

3
x a x 3
3ax 2
3a 2
x a 3

x a x 4ax 6a x 4a x a
4 4 3 2 2 3 4

5
x a x 5
__ ax 4
__ a 2 3
x __ a 3 2
x __ a 4
x a 5

We can easily see the pattern on the x's and the a's. But what
about the coefficients? Make a guess and then as we go we'll
see how you did.
 Let's list all of the coefficients on the x's and the a's and look for a
pattern.
1
x a
5
1x5 5ax 4 10a 2 x3 10a3 x 2 5a 4 x 1a5
1+1

1+2+1
x a 1
0

1+3 3 1
x a 1x 1a + +
1

1 + 4 + 6 + 4 +1

2
x a 1x 2
2 ax 1a 2

1 5 10 10 5 1

3
x a 1x 3
3ax 2
3a 2
x 1a 3
Can you
guess the
x a
4
1x 4ax 6a x 4a x 1a
4 3 2 2 3 4
next row?
This is good for
1
lower powers but
could get very
large. We will 1 1
introduce some
notation to help 1 2 1
us and
generalise the
1 3 3 1
coefficients with
a formula based
on what was 1 4 6 4 1
observed here.
1 5 10 10 5 1
This is called Pascal's Triangle and would give us the
coefficients for a binomial expansion of any power if we
extended it far enough.
 The Factorial Symbol
! !
0! = 1 1! = 1
n! = n(n-1) . . . 3 2 1
n must be an integer greater than or equal to 2

What this says is if you have a positive integer followed by

the factorial symbol you multiply the integer by each integer
less than it until you get down to 1.

6! = 6 5 4 3 2 1 = 720

Your calculator can compute factorials. The !

! symbol is under the "math" menu and then "prob".

!
 If j and n are integers with 0 j n,
n
the symbol is defined as
j
n n!

j j ! n j !

This symbol is read "n taken j at a time"

Your calculator can compute these as well. It is also under
the "math" and then "prob" menu and is usually denoted nCr
with the C meaning combinations. In probability, there are n
things to choose from and you are choosing j of them for
various combinations.
 n n!

j j ! n j !
Let's work a couple of these:

5 5! 5 4 3 2 1 20
10
2 2! 5 2 ! 2 1 3 2 1 2
2
12 12! 12 1110 9!
220
9 9!12 9 ! 9! 3 2 1

We are now ready to see how this applies to expanding

binomials.
 The Binomial Theorem
n n n n 1 n n
x a
n
x ax a
0 1 n
The x's start out to the nth power and decrease by 1 in power
each term. The a's start out to the 0 power and increase by 1
in power each term. The binomial coefficients are found by
computing the combination symbol. Also the sum of the
powers on a and x is n. 12 4 8
a x 4
495a x 8

Find the 5th term of (x + a)12 1 less 4

than
5th term will have a4 term So we'll have x8
(power on a is 1 less than term number) number (sum of two powers is 12)
 Here is the expansion of (x + a)12

and the 5th term matches the term we obtained!

In this expansion, observe the following:

Powers on a and x add up to power on binomial
a's increase in power as x's decrease in power from
term to term.
Powers on a are one less than the term number
Symmetry of coefficients (i.e. 2nd term and 2nd to last term
have same coefficients, 3rd & 3rd to last etc.) so once you've
reached the middle, you can copy by symmetry rather
than compute coefficients.
 Instead of x Instead of a
we have 2x we have -3y
Let's use what we've learned to expand (2x - 3y)6

First let's write out the expansion of the general (x + a)6 and
then we'll substitute.

x a
6
x 6 __
6 ax5 15
__ a 2 x 4 20
__ a 3 x3 15
__ a 4 x 2 __
6 a5 x a6

2 x 3 y 2 x 6 these
3 y will the15same
3 y 2 x
6 6 5 2 4
2 xbe
20 3 y 2 x 15 3these
y will
2 x bethe
6 same
3 y 2 x 3 y
3 3 4 2 5 6

Let's
Let's find
find the
the 6 6! 6 5! Let's confirm
This that
will
6 the 6

5 6!6! 6 655 6
2 this is also
also3be
the

Now we'll find
coefficient for 6 44 4!3! 3the
the 64
coefficient
coefficient
second term.
x 576
forofthe

1
x
y
1!5!2160
5!x y 4320
15
20 x
coefficient y
of the of
coefficient
third
the 4thterm.
term 2 4
3 2 3!3! 2!4! 5 3 224!3! 62nd tothe last3rd
term.
4860 x y 62916 6! xy 6 5!729 y
to

formula
6 last term.
Now we'll apply this 5 5!1! to our 5!
specific binomial.
Acknowledgement

I wish to thank Shawna Haider from Salt Lake Community College, Utah
USA for her hard work in creating this PowerPoint.

www.slcc.edu

Shawna has kindly given permission for this resource to be downloaded

from www.mathxtc.com and for it to be modified to suit the Western
Australian Mathematics Curriculum.

Stephen Corcoran
Head of Mathematics
St Stephens School Carramar
www.ststephens.wa.edu.au