The Binomial Expansio

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 Prior Knowledge Check
1) Expand and simplify if 3) Expand and simplify if
possible: possible:
a) a) b) 𝟏
𝟐
¿ 𝟒 𝒙 − 𝟏𝟐 𝒙𝒚 +𝟗 𝒚
𝟐
𝟓√ 𝒙 𝟏𝟔 √ 𝒙
𝟑 𝟐

b) 𝟑 𝟐 𝟐 𝟑
¿ 𝒙 −𝟑 𝒙 𝒚 +𝟑 𝒙𝒚 − 𝒚
c) d)
c) 𝟐 𝟑
𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟔 𝟑 𝟒
¿ 𝟖+𝟏𝟐 𝒙+𝟔 𝒙 + 𝒙 √𝒙
𝟑√𝒙 𝟖𝟏

2) Simplify: 𝟏
𝟑 𝟒
a) −𝟖 𝒙b) 𝟖𝟏 𝒙

𝟒 𝟐 𝟐𝟕
c) d) 𝒙
𝟐𝟓 𝒙𝟑
Teachings for
Exercise 8A
 The Binomial Expansion

Work out each of these:

a  b 
0
1

a  b 
1
1a  1b

1a 2  2ab  1b 2
a  b 
2

a  b 
3
1a 3  3a 2b  3ab 2  1b3

a  b 
4
1a 4  4a 3b  6a 2b 2  4ab3  1b 4

There is a pattern in the coefficients (the

numbers at the front of each term)
8A
 The Binomial Expansion

The coefficients make a pattern known as Pascal’s

triangle
1
You work out each
number by adding
the 2 above it. 1 1
Number 1s always
go down the edges 1 2 1

1 3 3 1

1 4 6 4 1

1 5 1 1 5 1
0 0

8A
 The Binomial Expansion

For (a + b)n Find the expansion of (x +

2y)3
n = 1
a x b 2 y n 3
0 a b
n = 
n = 3, so use the relevant row
1  
n = a2 2ab b2
2 a 3  3a 2b  3ab 2  b3
n = a 3
 2
3a b  3ab 2
 b 3
Sub in
3 for a
n = a 4  4a 3b  6a 2b 2  4ab3  b4 and b
4 x 3  3( x) 2 (2 y )  3( x)(2 y ) 2  (2 y )3
Simplify
Careful, (2y)2 =
2 3
4y2 x 3  6x 2 y  3 x(4 y )  8y
Now fully
simplify
x 3  6x 2 y  12xy 2  8y 3

8A
 The Binomial Expansion

For (a + b)n Find the expansion of (2x - 5)4

1
a 2 x b  5 n 4
a  b
n = 4, so use the relevant row
a2  2ab  b2

a3  3a 2b  3ab 2  b3 a 4  4a 3b  6a 2b 2  4ab3  b 4
a 4  4a 3b  6a 2b 2  4ab3  b4
3
(2 x) 4  4(2 x) (  5)  6(2 x) ( 5)  4(2 x)( 5) ( 5)
3 2 2 4

Work out
each part
carefully
16x 4  4(8 x 3 )( 5)  6(4 x 2 )(25)  4(2 x)(  125)  625
Careful with
negatives!
16x 4   160x 3  600x 2   1000x  625
Simplify as
much as you
can
16x 4  160x 3  600x 2  1000x  625
8A
 The Binomial Expansion

For (a + b)n The coefficient of x2 in the

expansion of (2 - cx)3 is 294. Find
1
the value of c.
a  b Using n = The ‘x’ will be substituted in for
3 b, so we want the term which has
a2  2ab  b2
b2
a 3
 2
3a b  3ab 2
 b 3 3ab 2
Sub in for a
and b
a 4  4a 3b  6a 2b 2  4ab3  b4 3(2)( cx) 2
Careful with
negatives!
6c 2 x 2
6c2 is the coefficient of x2, so
must be equal to 294

6c 2 294
Divide by 6
c 2 49
2 possible
answers c 7
8A
Teachings for
Exercise 8B
 Number of ways of choosing r items from a group of n items
If we are going

The Binomial Expansion

to choose 𝑛 𝑛!
objects from a ❑ 𝐶𝑟 =
( 𝑛 −𝑟 ) ! 𝑟 !
set of
objects…
𝑨𝑩𝑪 𝑫𝑬
1) How many ways can 2) How many ways can 3) How many ways can
we choose all 5, where we choose 3 out of the we choose 3 out of the 5,
order matters? 5, where order matters? where order does not
matter?
 5 choices for the first letter,  5 choices for the first letter,  If we are choosing 3 letters,
4 choices then for the 4 choices then for the and the order matters (as in
second… down to one second, and 3 choices for example 2)), we would include
choice for the last one… the third… the following:

 ways
 ways
5 ×4 ×3 × 2× 1  However, if order does not matter,

 2× 1 then we would only include one of
these
5!
𝑛! 
2!
 We have to divide the answer to part
2) by 6 () as we have 6 times too
many combinations
5!
𝑛! 
2! 3 !
(𝑛 −𝑟 ) ! 𝑛!
( 𝑛− 𝑟 ) ! 𝑟 !
8B
 Number of ways of choosing r items from a group of n items

The Binomial Expansion 𝑛 𝑛!

❑ 𝐶𝑟 =
( 𝑛 −𝑟 ) ! 𝑟 !

Factorial notation will be

useful in the binomial
1) Calculate
expansion, and your
calculator can be used to
¿ 720
help!

(The number of ways to

2) Calculate choose 3 objects from a
set of 8)
¿ 56

8B
 Number of ways of choosing r items from a group of n items

The Binomial Expansion 𝑛 𝑛!

❑ 𝐶𝑟 =
( 𝑛 −𝑟 ) ! 𝑟 !

Factorial notation will be 1) Calculate and , and comment on

useful in the binomial
expansion, and your your answers
calculator can be used to
help!  They are both 84

 Whenever you choose 3 from 9, you

are essentially also choosing 6 from
9!

8B
Teachings for
Exercise 8C
 Number of ways of choosing r items from a group of n items

The Binomial Expansion 𝑛 𝑛!

❑ 𝐶𝑟 =
( 𝑛 −𝑟 ) ! 𝑟 !

( 𝑎 +𝑏 )8

I know that if I was to expand this, there would be some terms containing

 The number of terms will be given by the number of ways we can

choose 4 terms from the 8 available… (choosing 4 a terms will mean
that 4 terms are chosen automatically…)

8
 ❑𝐶 4

=
70
 So the term containing will be

8C
 The Binomial Expansion
The Binomial expansion
allows you to expand powers
of binomial expressions.

The full formula for Binomial

expansion is:

( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

Where:

The powers
This of increase
Therelationship
coefficients
decrease one
iscan
in beeach
the
one exam
each time (starting
formula
calculated
time booklet!
(ending
by usingwith none)

This means that must be a

member of the natural numbers
(positive integers)

8C
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

The Binomial expansion
allows you to expand powers
of binomial expressions.

Write out each term with the correct

Use the binomial theorem to find powers and notation
the expansion of
 Do this before working any terms
out…
Work out the
5
( )
5 4 5
( ) 3 2 5
( ) 2 3
¿ (3 ) + 1 ( 3 ) (− 2 𝑥 )+ 2 ( 3 ) ( − 2 𝑥 ) + 3 ( 3 ) ( − 2 𝑥 ) + ( )
5 (3) ( − 2 𝑥 ) 4
4
+( − 2 𝑥 )
5

coefficient of each
term. Be very
careful with
¿ 243− 810 𝑥+1080 𝑥 2−720 𝑥 3+240 𝑥 4−32 𝑥 5 negative numbers!

8C
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

The Binomial expansion
allows you to expand powers
of binomial expressions.

Write out each term with the correct powers

Find the first 4 terms in the and notation – you only need to do 4 terms!
expansion of
 Do this before working any terms out…

10 10
( ) 9
¿ (1) + 1 ( 1 ) ( 2 𝑥+ 2 ( )
) 10 ( 1 ) 8 ( 2 𝑥 )+
2
3( )
10 ( 1 ) 7 ( 2 𝑥 ) 3
Work out the
coefficient of each
term. Be careful!
¿ 1 +20 𝑥+180 𝑥 2+ 960 𝑥 3

8C
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

The Binomial expansion
allows you to expand powers
of binomial expressions.

Write out each term with the correct powers

Find the first 4 terms in the and notation – you only need to do 4 terms!
expansion of
 Do this before working any terms out…

( )( ) ( )
3

)( )
2
¿ (10) +
6
1 (
10 ( 10 )5 − 1 𝑥 + 10 ( 10 )4 − 1 𝑥 + 10 ( 10 )3 − 1 𝑥
( ) 2 2 2 3 2 Work out the
coefficient of each
term. Be careful!
¿ 1,000,000−300,000 𝑥+37,500 𝑥 2−2500 𝑥 3

8C
Teachings for
Exercise 8D
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

As the power of 3x is
4, we are using
You can use the general term
of the Binomial expansion to
find individual coefficients (140 )( 2 ) ( 3 𝑥 )
6 4

4
¿ 1,088,640 𝑥
Find the coefficient of in The coefficient is
just the number!
¿ 1,088,640
This term will need to
 Think about where the term be raised to a power 4
will come from…
Which means that this
one will be raised
Note to we
that a could also have used
power 6 (4 + 6 = 10)
in the example above!

(choosing 6 from 10 has the same

combinations as choosing 4 from
10)

8D
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

You can use the general term Every term in the binomial expansion bracket
of the Binomial expansion to will get multiplied by the 2 terms in the first
find individual coefficients bracket

 How could we get terms?

Find the coefficient of in
( 2+ 𝑥 ) ( 3− 2 𝑥 )7
 Think about where the terms
will come from… We would get them when:

 The term in the right bracket is multiplied by

 So we need to find the and the 2 in the left bracket
terms from the expansion, and
multiply them by 2 and  The term in the right bracket is multiplied by
respectively… the term in the left bracket

8D
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

( 2+ 𝑥 ) ( 3− 2 𝑥 )7
You can use the general term
of the Binomial expansion to term term
find individual coefficients
(73 )( 3 ) ( −2 𝑥 )
4 3
( )
7 5
2 ( 3 ) ( −2 𝑥 )
2

Find the coefficient of in

3 2
¿ − 22,680 𝑥 ¿ 20,412 𝑥
 Think about where the terms
will come from… ×2 ×𝑥

 So we need to find the and 3

terms from the expansion, and ¿ − 45,360 𝑥 ¿ 20,412 𝑥
3

multiply them by 2 and

respectively… Adding these together gives

So the coefficient of in the expansion of

is -24,948

8D
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

You can use the general term (1+𝑘𝑥 )
10
of the Binomial expansion to
Write out the
find individual coefficients
parts of the term
we need

If , where is a constant, and the

(10
3 )( 1 ) ( 𝑘𝑥 )
7 3

Simplify /
coefficient of is 15, find the
calculate
value of .
3 3
¿ 120 𝑘 𝑥
We know that
the coefficient
 As before, think about where
of is 15
the term comes from 3
120 𝑘 = 15
Divide by
3 1 120
𝑘 =
8
Cube
1 root
𝑘=
2

8D
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

You can use the general term 8
(1+𝑞𝑥 )
of the Binomial expansion to Write out the
find individual coefficients expansion
using the rule

Write down the first three terms,

8 8
( ) 7 8
( ) 6
¿ (1) + 1 ( 1 ) ( 𝑞𝑥 )+ 2 ( 1 ) ( 𝑞𝑥 )
2
above

in ascending powers of , of the Simplify

binomial expansion of , where is
a non-zero constant. ¿ 1+ 8𝑞𝑥 +28 𝑞 2 𝑥 2

¿ 1+ 8 𝑞𝑥+ 28 𝑞2 𝑥 2

8D
 ( ) ( ) ( )
(𝑎 +𝑏)𝑛 =𝑎 𝑛 + 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 −1 𝑏+ 𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 2 𝑏 2 +…+ 𝑛 𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑟 𝑏𝑟 + …+𝑏 𝑛
1 2 𝑟

The Binomial Expansion

You can use the general term 8 𝑞=− 𝑟 2
28 𝑞 =7 𝑟
of the Binomial expansion to Multiply
find individual coefficients by -1
− 8 𝑞=𝑟

Write down the first three terms,

in ascending powers of , of the 2
binomial expansion of , where is 28 𝑞 =7 𝑟
a non-zero constant. Sub in
2
28 𝑞 =7 (−8 𝑞)
Multiply the bracket
¿ 1+ 8 𝑞𝑥+ 28 𝑞2 𝑥 2 2
28 𝑞 =−56 𝑞
Add
Given that, in the expansion of , 2
28 𝑞 + 56 𝑞=0
the coefficient of is and the Divide by
coefficient of is , find the values 2
𝑞 + 2𝑞= 0 28
of and Factorise
𝑞 (𝑞+2)= 0
Remember that is a
𝑞=−2 ‘non-zero constant’
We can now find
𝑟 =16

8D
Teachings for
Exercise 8E
 The Binomial Expansion
You can use the Binomial
Expansion to find
approximations for
complicated functions.
A couple of sections
previously, we had this
expansion…
The key part to understanding
this is that if values of x are
small, it can be possible to ignore
larger powers…
5
( )
5 4 5
( ) 3 2 5
( ) 2 3
¿ (3 ) + 1 ( 3 ) (− 2 𝑥 )+ 2 ( 3 ) ( − 2 𝑥 ) + 3 ( 3 ) ( − 2 𝑥 ) + ( )
5 (3) ( − 2 𝑥 ) 4
4
+( − 2 𝑥 )
5

¿ 243− 810 𝑥+1080 𝑥 2−720 𝑥 3+240 𝑥 4−32 𝑥 5 Imagine x was

0.2. Let’s look at
the value of each
¿ 243−162+ 43.2−5.76+ 0.384− 0.01024 term…

The values get progressively smaller – why is this?

 If we are approximating a calculation, we can ignore later terms since

they will have less of an effect on it
8E
 The Binomial Expansion
)( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
2 3
𝑥 + 10 ( 1 ) 8 − 𝑥 𝑥
You can use the Binomial 10
¿ (1) ( )
1 (
+ 10 ( 1 ) 9 −
4 2 4
+ 10 ( 1 ) −
3
7

4
Expansion to find
approximations for
complicated functions. ¿ 1 −2.5 𝑥+ 2.8125 𝑥2 −1.875 𝑥 3

Find the first four terms of the

binomial expansion of , in
ascending powers of

 Write out the first four terms

and then simplify them…

¿ 1 −2.5 𝑥+ 2.8125 𝑥2 −1.875 𝑥 3

8E
 The Binomial Expansion
Compare the expansion with what we are being asked…
You can use the Binomial
Expansion to find
( )
10
𝑥
approximations for 1− 0.975 10
4
complicated functions.
Therefore…
Find the first four terms of the 𝑥
binomial expansion of , in 1− =0.975
4
ascending powers of Rearrang
𝑥 e
0.025=
4
Multiply by 4
 Write out the first four terms
and then simplify them… 0.1=𝑥

¿ 1 −2.5 𝑥+ 2.8125 𝑥2 −1.875 𝑥 3 This means that if we substitute x = 0.1 into the
expansion, we will get an approximation for
 Use your expansion to 0.97510
¿ 1 −2.5 𝑥+ 2.8125 𝑥2 −1.875 𝑥 3
estimate the value of 0.97510,
giving your answer to 4 2
¿ 1 −2.5 (0.1)+2.8125( 0.1) −1.875 (0.1)
3

If you decimal places

check 0.975 10
on a
calculator, you get 0.776329… ¿ 0.77625
 So the answer is correct to 4dp!
8E