Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

The Binomial Theorem

Prerequisites: Cancelling fractions; summation notation; rules of indices.

Maths Applications: Proving trig. identities using complex numbers;

probability.

Real-World Applications: Counting problems; Hardy-Weinberg Formula

(biology).

Factorials and Binomial Coefficients

In a race with 3 people, in how many ways can the runners finish ? There
are 3 possibilities for the first place; for each of these 3 possibilities,
there are 2 possibilities for the remaining 2 places; for each of these 2
possibilities, there is only 1 possibility for the final place. So, there are
3 × 2 × 1 = 6 ways the runners can finish.

Definition:

For n ∈
, the factorial of n (aka n factorial or factorial n) is,

def
n! = n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × … × 3 × 2 × 1

def
Note that 1! = 1 and the convention 0! = 1 is made.

In how many ways can a child pick 3 crayons from a selection of 5

coloured crayons (all different colours) ? There are 5 × 4 × 3 = 60 ways
of choosing 3 crayons, if the order in which they are taken matters.
However, the child isn’t interested in which order they’re picked, so this
answer of 60 is too big. Whichever 3 colours are picked, there are 3 ! = 6
ways of doing so. Therefore, the value of 60 is 6 times too large; hence,
the actual number of ways of choosing 3 crayons from 5 without worrying
about the order is 60 ÷ 6 = 10.

The order matters in a permutation, as opposed to a combination.

M Patel (April 2012) 1 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

Definition:

The number of ways of choosing r objects from n without taking into

account the order (aka n choose r or the number of combinations of r
objects from n) is given by the binomial coefficient nC r defined by,

n n  def
n!
Cr ≡   =
r  r ! (n − r )!

Evaluating a Binomial Coefficient Without a Calculator

Example 1

7 7!
C4 =
4! (7 − 4)!

7 × 6×5 × 4 ×3×2×1
=
(4 × 3 × 2 × 1) × (3 × 2 × 1)

7 ×6×5
=
3×2×1

= 35

Properties of Binomial Coefficients

n   n 
•   =  
r  n − r 

 n  n  n + 1 
•   +   =   (Khayyam-Pascal Identity)
r − 1 r   r 

Example 2

 n 
Solve the equation   = 15.
n − 2 

n!
= 15
2! (n − 2)!

M Patel (April 2012) 2 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

n (n − 1) (n − 2)!
= 15
2 (n − 2)!

n (n − 1)
= 15
2

n 2 − n = 30

n 2 − n − 30 = 0

(n − 6) (n + 5) = 0

Hence, n = 6 or n = − 5. However, as n cannot be negative, n = 6.

Example 3

n + 1  n  n 
Show that   −   =  .
 3  3 2

A very simple proof can be obtained by replacing r with 2 in the

Khayyam-Pascal Identity. However a more ‘ get your fingers dirty ’
method will be given, which illustrates some general techniques when
manipulating binomial coefficients.

Starting with the LHS,

n + 1  n  (n + 1)! n!
  −   = −
 3  3 3! (n − 2)! 3! (n − 3)!

(n + 1) n ! n!
= −
3! (n − 2) (n − 3)! 3! (n − 3)!

n! n + 1 
=  − 1
3! (n − 3)!  n − 2 

n! n + 1 − n + 2
=  
3! (n − 3)!  n − 2 

M Patel (April 2012) 3 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

n!  3 
=  
3! (n − 3)!  n − 2 

n! 3
=
3 . 2! (n − 3)! (n − 2)

n!
=
2! (n − 2)!

n 
=  
2

which equals the RHS.

Pascal’s Triangle

Pascal’s triangle - also known as Pingala’s triangle, Khayyam’s triangle, Yang

Hui’s triangle and Tartaglia’s triangle, after mathematicians who
discovered or studied the triangle before Pascal – is the following infinite
arrangement of evaluated binomial coefficients:

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1


The top row consisting of the single entry 1 is the 0th row. Each number
not on an edge of the triangle is obtained by adding the 2 numbers in the
previous row and just to the right and left of that entry (this is the
Khayyam-Pascal identity).

M Patel (April 2012) 4 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

The Binomial Theorem

Taking powers of a binomial can be achieved via the following theorem.

Theorem (Binomial Theorem):

For whole numbers r and n,

(x + y) n
=
∑C
r = 0
n
r
x n −r y r

Written out fully, the RHS is called the binomial expansion of (x + y) n .

Using the first property of the binomial coefficients and a little

relabelling, the Binomial Theorem can be written slightly differently.

Corollary:

(x + y) n
=
∑C
r = 0
n
r
x r y n −r

Note that there are n + 1 terms in any binomial expansion.

Expanding a Binomial

Example 4

Expand (x + y) 5 .

∑
5
 5  5 −r r
(x + y) 5 =  x y
r 
r = 0

5 5 5

=   x5 y 0 +   x 4 y1 +   x3 y2 +
0 1 2
5 2 3 5 1 4 5 0 5
 x y +  x y +  x y
3 4 5

M Patel (April 2012) 5 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

= x 5 + 5 x 4 y + 10 x 3y 2 + 10 x 2y 3 + 5 xy 4 + y 5

Note that the powers of x go up by 1 as the powers of y go down by 1,

and that the sum of the powers of x and y equal 5. Also, the number of
terms in the expansion is one more than the value of n. The binomial
coefficients are evaluated using Pascal’s triangle.

Example 5

4
 2
Expand  x 2 −  .
 x

∑
4
4 r
 2 2 4 4 −r  2
x − 
x
=   x
2
( ) − 
 x
 r 
r = 0

0 1 2
4 4  2 4 3  2 4 2 2  2
=   x2 ( ) − 
 x
+   x2 ( ) −  +   x
 x
( ) − 
 x
0 1 2
3 4
4 1 2 4 0  2
( )
+   x2 − 
 x
+   x2 ( ) − 
 x
3 4

 2  4  2  8   16 
= x 8 (1) + 4 x 6  −  + 6 x 4  2  + 4x − 3  +  4 
 x x   x  x 

32 16
= x 8 − 8 x 5 + 24 x 2 − +
x x4

Finding the General Term

Definition:

The general term in a binomial expansion is,

n
C r x n −r y r

Essentially, the general term is everything in the Binomial Theorem apart

from the summation sign.

M Patel (April 2012) 6 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

Example 6

13
 3
Find and simplify the general term in the expansion of  x 2 +  .
 x

∑
13
13 r
 2 3  13  13−r 3
x + 
x
=   x
2
( )  
x 
 r 
r = 0

The general term is the expression after the summation sign on the RHS
of the above equation. So,

r
 13  13−r 3  13   13 
General term =   x 2 ( )  
x 
=   3r x 26−2r x −r =   3r x 26−3r
r  r  r 

Finding a Specific Term or Coefficient

Example 7

9
 5 
Find the term independent of x in the expansion of  x −  .
 x2 

r
9  5  9
General term =   x 9−r − 2  =   ( −5)r x 9−3r
r   x  r 

The term independent of x occurs when the index 9 − 3r = 0, i.e. when

r = 3. Thus, the required term is,

9 3 9 ×8× 7 × 6×5 × 4 ×3×2×1

  ( −5) = × ( −125) = − 10 500
3 (3 × 2 × 1) × (6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1)

Example 8

15
28  x
Find the term containing x in the expansion of  x 2 +  .
 2

M Patel (April 2012) 7 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

r
 15  15−r x   15 
General term =   x 2 ( )   =   2−r x 30 −r
r  2 r 

The term containing x 28 occurs when the index 30 − r = 28, i.e. when
r = 2. Thus, the required term is,

 15  −2 28 15! 1 28 105 28
  2 x = × x = x
2 2! 13! 4 4

Example 9

11
Find the coefficient of x 4 in the expansion of 2 − x ( ) .

 11   11 
General term =   211−r ( −x )r =   ( −1)r 211−r x r
r  r 

The coefficient of x 4 occurs when r = 4. Thus, the required coefficient

is,

 11  4 7 11!
  ( −1) 2 = × 128 = 42 240
4 4! 7 !

Evaluating a Natural Power of a Decimal

Example 10

Calculate the value of (0 · 8) 4 using the Binomial Theorem.

(1 + x) 4 = 1 + 4 x + 6 x 2 + 4 x 3 + x 4

Letting x = − 0 · 2,

(0 · 8) 4 = 1 + 4 ( − 0 · 2) + 6 ( − 0 · 2) 2 + 4 ( − 0 · 2) 3 + ( − 0 · 2) 4

= 1 − 0 · 8 + 6 (0 · 04) − 4 (0 · 008) + 0 · 001 6

= 1 − 0 · 8 + 0 · 24 − 0 · 032 + 0 · 001 6

= 0 · 409 6

M Patel (April 2012) 8 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

Obviously, a calculator should be used for questions similar in spirit to

Example 10.

Applications of the Binomial Theorem

The Binomial Theorem is often used to solve probabilistic problems.

Example 11

A fair coin is flipped 5 times. Calculate the probability of obtaining

exactly 3 heads.

This problem can be solved by listing all possible combinations of heads

and tails (e.g. HHHHH, HTHTH, etc.), picking those that give exactly 2
heads and dividing by the total number of possibilities. No doubt, this is a
very lengthy process. However, the Binomial Theorem can be used to sort
this out very quickly.

If p stands for the probability of obtaining a head and q for the

probability of obtaining a tail, then obviously p + q = 1 (total
probability equals 100 %). Hence, and this is where the link to the
Binomial Theorem comes in, (p + q) n = 1. In our case, n = 5. Then,

(p + q) 5 = p 5 + 5 p 4q + 10 p 3q 2 + 10 p 2q 3 + 5 pq 4 + q 5

The first term in this expansion gives the probability of obtaining 5

heads, the second term 4 heads and a tail etc. (check this using a tree
diagram – for example, the coefficient 5 in the second term gives the
number of ways 4 heads and 1 tail can be obtained). As the coin is fair, p
1
= q = . Thus, the required probability is,
2

P (exactly 3 heads) = 5 p 4q

4
1 1
= 5.   .
 2  2

5
=
32

M Patel (April 2012) 9 St. Machar Academy

Advanced Higher Notes (Unit 1) The Binomial Theorem

Notice that the sum of the coefficients in the above expansion equals 32
(the total number of possibilities for 5 flips).

Example 12

If the probabilities of dominant (T) and recessive (t) alleles, denoted by p

and q respectively, for an organism with n copies of the same
chromosome are linked via the equation,

( p + q) n = 1

find the probability that an organism with 4 copies of the same

chromosome has the genotype TTtt if q = 0 · 2.

The biological details of the problem are not relevant, only the general
structure of the problem. We have n = 4 and the genotype TTtt
corresponds to the term p 2q 2 (2 T’s and 2 t’s) in the binomial expansion
of (p + q) 4 . Expanding this gives,

(p + q) 4 = p 4 + 4 p 3q + 6 p 2q 2 + 4 pq 3 + q 4

Since p + q = 1, p = 0 · 8. The required probability is thus,

P (TTtt) = 6 p 2q 2

= 6 (0 · 2) 2 (0 · 8) 2

= 0 · 153 6

M Patel (April 2012) 10 St. Machar Academy