The binomial Theorem allows us to expand many brackets without multiplying each bracket out one by one. It states:
To expandwe could expandwhich would be a very long winded process. Or we could just substitute forandinto the expression for the binomial expansion. Example: Expandthen
which simplifies to
and further to
We may be asked to solve questions involving the coefficients. For example, the coefficient ofin the binomial expansion ofis equal to 3 times the coefficient of .Find n.
Using the binomial expansion, the coefficient ofis
Using the binomial expansion, the coefficient ofis
Hence we can write down the equation
Now we have to perform some trickery: