Engineering Mathematics Exam > Engineering Mathematics Videos > Binomial theorem
Binomial theorem Video Lecture - Engineering
FAQs on Binomial theorem
| 1. What is the binomial theorem in Engineering Mathematics? |  |
Ans. The binomial theorem in Engineering Mathematics is a formula that allows us to expand a binomial expression raised to a power. It states that for any positive integer n, the expansion of (a + b)^n can be written as the sum of n+1 terms, where each term is of the form (n choose k) * a^(n-k) * b^k, where k is a non-negative integer.
| 2. How is the binomial theorem used in Engineering Mathematics? | |
Ans. The binomial theorem is used in Engineering Mathematics to simplify and expand complex expressions involving binomials. It allows us to calculate the coefficients of each term in the expansion, which is useful in various engineering calculations, such as probability, series approximation, and solving equations involving polynomials.
| 3. What are the applications of the binomial theorem in Engineering Mathematics? | |
Ans. The binomial theorem has various applications in Engineering Mathematics. Some of the common applications include: - Probability calculations: The binomial theorem is used to calculate the probabilities of different outcomes in experiments involving multiple trials, such as in quality control or reliability analysis. - Series approximation: The binomial theorem helps in approximating functions that can be expressed as power series expansions, which is useful in numerical analysis and signal processing. - Polynomial equations: The binomial theorem aids in solving polynomial equations by expanding expressions and simplifying them into manageable forms.
| 4. Can the binomial theorem be used for non-integer powers in Engineering Mathematics? | |
Ans. Yes, the binomial theorem can be extended to non-integer powers in Engineering Mathematics. This extension is known as the generalized binomial theorem. It involves using the concept of binomial coefficients for non-integer values, which can be expressed using mathematical functions such as factorials and gamma functions.
| 5. Are there any limitations to using the binomial theorem in Engineering Mathematics? | |
Ans. While the binomial theorem is a powerful tool in Engineering Mathematics, it does have some limitations. The main limitation is that it can only be applied to binomial expressions, where the base consists of two terms. It cannot be directly applied to expressions with more than two terms. Additionally, the binomial theorem assumes that the base terms are constants, and it may not be applicable to expressions involving variables or functions. In such cases, other methods, such as Taylor series expansions, may be more appropriate.
Text Transcript from Video
Voiceover:It doesn't take long to realize
that taking higher and
higher powers of binomials
can get painful,
but let's just work through a few
just to realize how
quickly they get painful.
If we take the binomial a plus b,
it's a binomial because it
has two terms right over here,
let's take that to the 0 power.
Anything that's non-zero to the 0 power,
that's just going to be equal to 1.
That wasn't too bad.
Now what about a plus b to the 1st power?
That's just going to be a plus b.
Now what about a plus b squared?
Now, if you haven't been practicing
taking powers of binomials,
you might have been tempted to say
a squared plus b squared,
but that would be incorrect.
If you did that, you should give yourself
a very gentle but not overly discouraging
slap on the wrist or
the brain or something.
a plus b squared is not
a squared plus b squared.
It is a plus b times a plus b.
Then if you do this, it will be a times a,
which is a squared,
plus a times b, which is ab,
plus b times a, which is another ab,
plus b times b, which is b squared.
You have two ab's here, so
you could add them together,
so it's equal to a squared
plus 2ab plus b squared.
Now things are going to get a
little bit more interesting.
What is a plus b to the 3rd
power going to be equal to?
I encourage you to pause this video
and try to figure that out on your own.
Well, we know that a
plus b to the 3rd power
is just a plus b to the 2nd
power times another a plus b.
Let's just multiply this times a plus b
to figure out what it is.
I'll do this.
Let's see.
Let's multiply that times a plus b.
I'm just going to multiply it this way.
First, I'll multiply b
times all of these things.
I'll do it in this green color.
b times b squared is b to the 3rd power.
b times 2ab is 2a squared,
so 2ab squared,
and then b times a squared is ba squared,
or a squared b,
a squared b.
I'll multiply b times all of this stuff.
Now let's multiply a times all this stuff.
a times b squared is ab squared,
ab squared.
a times 2ab is 2a squared b,
2a squared b,
and then a times a squared
is a to the 3rd power.
Now when we add all of
these things together,
we get,
we get a to the 3rd power plus, let's see,
we have 1 a squared b plus another,
plus 2 more a squared b's.
That's going to be 3a squared b
plus 3ab squared.
2ab squared plus another ab squared
is going to be 3ab squared
plus b to the 3rd power.
Just taking some of the 3rd power,
this already took us a little
reasonable amount of time,
and so you can imagine
how painful it might get
to do something like a
plus b to the 4th power,
or even worse,
if you're trying to find a
plus b to the 10th power,
or to the 20th power.
This would take you all day
or maybe even longer than that.
It would be incredibly,
incredibly painful.
That's where the binomial
theorem becomes useful.
What is the binomial theorem?
The binomial theorem tells us,
let me write this down,
binomial theorem.
Binomial theorem,
it tells us that if we have a binomial,
and I'll just stick with
the a plus b for now,
if I have, and I'm going to try
to color code this a little bit,
if I have the binomial a plus b,
a plus b,
and I'm going to raise it the nth power,
I'm going to raise this to the nth power,
the binomial theorem tells us
that this is going to be equal to,
and the notation is going to look
a little bit complicated at first,
but then we'll work
through an actual example,
is going to be equal to
the sum from k equals 0,
k equals 0 to n,
this n and this n are the same number,
of ...
I don't want to ...
that's kind of a garish color ...
of n choose k,
n choose k,
and we'll review that in a second;
this comes straight out of combinatorics;
n choose k times a to the n minus k,
n minus k,
times b,
times b to the k,
b to the k power.
Now this seems a little bit unwieldy.
Let's just review, remind ourselves
what n choose k actually means.
If we say n choose k,
I'll do the same colors,
n choose k,
we remember from combinatorics
this would be equal to
n factorial,
n factorial over k factorial,
over k factorial times
n minus k factorial,
n minus k factorial,
so n minus k minus k factorial,
let me color code this,
n minus k factorial.
Let's try to apply this.
Let's just start applying it to the thing
that started to intimidate us,
say, a plus b to the 4th power.
Let's figure out what that's going to be.
Let's try this.
So a, and I'm going to
try to keep it color-coded
so you know what's going on,
a plus b,
although it takes me
a little bit more time
to keep switching colors,
but hopefully it's worth it,
a plus b.
Let's take that to the 4th power.
The binomial theorem tells us
this is going to be equal to,
and I'm just going to
use this exact notation,
this is going to be the
sum from k equals 0,
k equals 0 to 4,
to 4 of 4 choose k,
4 choose k,
4 choose ...
let me do that k in that purple color,
4 choose k of a to the 4 minus k power,
4 minus k power
times b to the k power,
b to the k power.
Now what is that going to be equal to?
Well, let's just actually just do the sum.
This is going to be equal to,
so we're going to start at k equals 0,
so when k equals 0, it's
going to be 4 choose 0,
4 choose 0,
times a to the 4 minus 0 power,
well, that's just going
to be a to the 4th power,
times b to the 0 power.
b to the 0 power is just
going to be equal to 1,
so we could just put a
1 here if we want to,
or we could just leave it like that.
This is what we get when k equals 0.
Then to that, we're going
to add when k equals 1.
k equals 1 is going to be,
the coefficient is going to be 4 choose 1,
and it's going to be times
a to the 4 minus 1 power,
so a to the 3rd power,
and I'll just stick with that color,
times b to the k power.
Well, now, k is 1b to the 1st power.
Then to that, we're going to add,
we're going to add 4 choose 2,
4 choose 2 times a to the ...
well, now k is 2.
4 minus 2 is 2.
a squared.
I think you see a pattern here.
a to the 4th, a to the 3rd, a squared,
and then times b to the k.
Well, k is 2 now, so b squared,
and you see a pattern again.
You could say b to the
0, b to the 1, b squared,
and we only have two
more terms to add here,
plus 4 choose 3,
4 choose 3 times 4 minus 3 is 1,
times a, or a to the 1st,
I guess we could say,
and then b to the 3rd power,
times a to the 1st b to the third,
and then only one more term,
plus 4 choose,
4 choose 4.
k is now 4.
This is going to be our
last term right now.
We're getting k goes
from 0 all the way to 4,
4 choose 4.
a to the 4 minus 4,
that's just going to be 1,
a to the 0, that's just 1,
so we're going to be left
with just b to the k power,
and b is 4 right over here.
We're almost done.
We've expanded it out.
We just need it figure
out what 4 choose 0,
4 choose 1, 4 choose 2,
et cetera, et cetera are,
so let's figure that out.
We could just apply this
over and over again.
So 4 choose 0,
4 choose 0 is equal to 4
factorial over 0 factorial
times 4 minus 0 factorial.
That's just going to be 4 factorial again.
0 factorial, at least for these purposes,
we are defining to be equal to 1,
so this whole thing is
going to be equal to 1,
so this coefficient is 1.
Let's see.
Let's keep going here.
So 4 choose 1 is going to be
4 factorial over 1 factorial
times 4 minus 1 factorial,
4 minus 1 factorial, so 3 factorial.
What's this going to be?
1 factorial is just going to be 1.
4 factorial is 4 times 3 times 2 times 1.
3 factorial is 3 times 2 times 1.
Let me make that clear.
4 times 3 times 2 times 1
over 3 times 2 times 1
is just going to leave us with 4.
This right over here
is just going to be 4.
Then we need to figure
out what 4 choose 2 is.
4 choose 2 is going to be 4
factorial over 2 factorial
times what's 4 minus ...
this is going to be n minus k,
4 minus 2 over 2 factorial.
So what is this going to be?
Let me scroll over to
the right a little bit.
This is going to be 4
times 3 times 2 times 1
over 2 factorial is 2,
over 2 times 2.
This is 2, this is 2,
so 2 times 2 is same thing as 4.
We're left with 3 times 2 times 1,
which is equal to 6.
That's equal to 6.
Then what is 4 choose 3?
I'll use some space down here.
So 4 choose 3,
4 choose 3 is equal to 4 factorial over,
over 3 factorial times
4 minus 3 factorial,
so that's just going to be 1 factorial.
Well, we already figured out what that is.
That's the same thing
as this right over here.
You just swap the 1 factorial
and the 3 factorial.
We already figured out that
this is going to be equal to 4.
That is equal to 4.
4 choose 4?
Well, this is just going to be,
let me just do it over here,
4 choose 4 is 4 factorial over 4 factorial
times 0 factorial,
which is the exact thing we had here,
which we figured out was 1.
Just like that, we're done.
We were able to figure out
what a plus b to the 4th power is.
It's 1a to the 4th plus
4a to the 3rd b to the 1st
plus 6a squared b squared plus 4ab cubed
plus b to the 4th.
Actually, let me just write that down,
since we did all that work.
This is equal to a to the 4th plus,
plus 4,
plus 4a to the 3rd,
a to the 3rd b plus,
plus 6,
plus 6a squared b squared,
a squared b squared,
plus,
plus,
plus 4, I think you see a pattern here,
plus 4a times b to the 3rd power
plus b to the 4th power,
plus b to the 4th power.
There is an interesting pattern here.
There is a symmetry where
you have the coefficient,
you go 1, 4, 6 for the middle term,
and then you go back to 4,
and then you go back to 1.
Then you also see that pattern,
is that you start at a
to the 4th, a to the 3rd,
a squared, a,
and then you could say
there is an a to the 0 here,
and then you started b to the 0,
which we didn't write
it, but that's just 1,
then b to the 1st, b
squared, b to the 3rd,
b to the 4th.
This is just one
application or one example.
In future videos, we'll do more examples
of the binomial theorem
and also try to understand why it works.
that taking higher and
higher powers of binomials
can get painful,
but let's just work through a few
just to realize how
quickly they get painful.
If we take the binomial a plus b,
it's a binomial because it
has two terms right over here,
let's take that to the 0 power.
Anything that's non-zero to the 0 power,
that's just going to be equal to 1.
That wasn't too bad.
Now what about a plus b to the 1st power?
That's just going to be a plus b.
Now what about a plus b squared?
Now, if you haven't been practicing
taking powers of binomials,
you might have been tempted to say
a squared plus b squared,
but that would be incorrect.
If you did that, you should give yourself
a very gentle but not overly discouraging
slap on the wrist or
the brain or something.
a plus b squared is not
a squared plus b squared.
It is a plus b times a plus b.
Then if you do this, it will be a times a,
which is a squared,
plus a times b, which is ab,
plus b times a, which is another ab,
plus b times b, which is b squared.
You have two ab's here, so
you could add them together,
so it's equal to a squared
plus 2ab plus b squared.
Now things are going to get a
little bit more interesting.
What is a plus b to the 3rd
power going to be equal to?
I encourage you to pause this video
and try to figure that out on your own.
Well, we know that a
plus b to the 3rd power
is just a plus b to the 2nd
power times another a plus b.
Let's just multiply this times a plus b
to figure out what it is.
I'll do this.
Let's see.
Let's multiply that times a plus b.
I'm just going to multiply it this way.
First, I'll multiply b
times all of these things.
I'll do it in this green color.
b times b squared is b to the 3rd power.
b times 2ab is 2a squared,
so 2ab squared,
and then b times a squared is ba squared,
or a squared b,
a squared b.
I'll multiply b times all of this stuff.
Now let's multiply a times all this stuff.
a times b squared is ab squared,
ab squared.
a times 2ab is 2a squared b,
2a squared b,
and then a times a squared
is a to the 3rd power.
Now when we add all of
these things together,
we get,
we get a to the 3rd power plus, let's see,
we have 1 a squared b plus another,
plus 2 more a squared b's.
That's going to be 3a squared b
plus 3ab squared.
2ab squared plus another ab squared
is going to be 3ab squared
plus b to the 3rd power.
Just taking some of the 3rd power,
this already took us a little
reasonable amount of time,
and so you can imagine
how painful it might get
to do something like a
plus b to the 4th power,
or even worse,
if you're trying to find a
plus b to the 10th power,
or to the 20th power.
This would take you all day
or maybe even longer than that.
It would be incredibly,
incredibly painful.
That's where the binomial
theorem becomes useful.
What is the binomial theorem?
The binomial theorem tells us,
let me write this down,
binomial theorem.
Binomial theorem,
it tells us that if we have a binomial,
and I'll just stick with
the a plus b for now,
if I have, and I'm going to try
to color code this a little bit,
if I have the binomial a plus b,
a plus b,
and I'm going to raise it the nth power,
I'm going to raise this to the nth power,
the binomial theorem tells us
that this is going to be equal to,
and the notation is going to look
a little bit complicated at first,
but then we'll work
through an actual example,
is going to be equal to
the sum from k equals 0,
k equals 0 to n,
this n and this n are the same number,
of ...
I don't want to ...
that's kind of a garish color ...
of n choose k,
n choose k,
and we'll review that in a second;
this comes straight out of combinatorics;
n choose k times a to the n minus k,
n minus k,
times b,
times b to the k,
b to the k power.
Now this seems a little bit unwieldy.
Let's just review, remind ourselves
what n choose k actually means.
If we say n choose k,
I'll do the same colors,
n choose k,
we remember from combinatorics
this would be equal to
n factorial,
n factorial over k factorial,
over k factorial times
n minus k factorial,
n minus k factorial,
so n minus k minus k factorial,
let me color code this,
n minus k factorial.
Let's try to apply this.
Let's just start applying it to the thing
that started to intimidate us,
say, a plus b to the 4th power.
Let's figure out what that's going to be.
Let's try this.
So a, and I'm going to
try to keep it color-coded
so you know what's going on,
a plus b,
although it takes me
a little bit more time
to keep switching colors,
but hopefully it's worth it,
a plus b.
Let's take that to the 4th power.
The binomial theorem tells us
this is going to be equal to,
and I'm just going to
use this exact notation,
this is going to be the
sum from k equals 0,
k equals 0 to 4,
to 4 of 4 choose k,
4 choose k,
4 choose ...
let me do that k in that purple color,
4 choose k of a to the 4 minus k power,
4 minus k power
times b to the k power,
b to the k power.
Now what is that going to be equal to?
Well, let's just actually just do the sum.
This is going to be equal to,
so we're going to start at k equals 0,
so when k equals 0, it's
going to be 4 choose 0,
4 choose 0,
times a to the 4 minus 0 power,
well, that's just going
to be a to the 4th power,
times b to the 0 power.
b to the 0 power is just
going to be equal to 1,
so we could just put a
1 here if we want to,
or we could just leave it like that.
This is what we get when k equals 0.
Then to that, we're going
to add when k equals 1.
k equals 1 is going to be,
the coefficient is going to be 4 choose 1,
and it's going to be times
a to the 4 minus 1 power,
so a to the 3rd power,
and I'll just stick with that color,
times b to the k power.
Well, now, k is 1b to the 1st power.
Then to that, we're going to add,
we're going to add 4 choose 2,
4 choose 2 times a to the ...
well, now k is 2.
4 minus 2 is 2.
a squared.
I think you see a pattern here.
a to the 4th, a to the 3rd, a squared,
and then times b to the k.
Well, k is 2 now, so b squared,
and you see a pattern again.
You could say b to the
0, b to the 1, b squared,
and we only have two
more terms to add here,
plus 4 choose 3,
4 choose 3 times 4 minus 3 is 1,
times a, or a to the 1st,
I guess we could say,
and then b to the 3rd power,
times a to the 1st b to the third,
and then only one more term,
plus 4 choose,
4 choose 4.
k is now 4.
This is going to be our
last term right now.
We're getting k goes
from 0 all the way to 4,
4 choose 4.
a to the 4 minus 4,
that's just going to be 1,
a to the 0, that's just 1,
so we're going to be left
with just b to the k power,
and b is 4 right over here.
We're almost done.
We've expanded it out.
We just need it figure
out what 4 choose 0,
4 choose 1, 4 choose 2,
et cetera, et cetera are,
so let's figure that out.
We could just apply this
over and over again.
So 4 choose 0,
4 choose 0 is equal to 4
factorial over 0 factorial
times 4 minus 0 factorial.
That's just going to be 4 factorial again.
0 factorial, at least for these purposes,
we are defining to be equal to 1,
so this whole thing is
going to be equal to 1,
so this coefficient is 1.
Let's see.
Let's keep going here.
So 4 choose 1 is going to be
4 factorial over 1 factorial
times 4 minus 1 factorial,
4 minus 1 factorial, so 3 factorial.
What's this going to be?
1 factorial is just going to be 1.
4 factorial is 4 times 3 times 2 times 1.
3 factorial is 3 times 2 times 1.
Let me make that clear.
4 times 3 times 2 times 1
over 3 times 2 times 1
is just going to leave us with 4.
This right over here
is just going to be 4.
Then we need to figure
out what 4 choose 2 is.
4 choose 2 is going to be 4
factorial over 2 factorial
times what's 4 minus ...
this is going to be n minus k,
4 minus 2 over 2 factorial.
So what is this going to be?
Let me scroll over to
the right a little bit.
This is going to be 4
times 3 times 2 times 1
over 2 factorial is 2,
over 2 times 2.
This is 2, this is 2,
so 2 times 2 is same thing as 4.
We're left with 3 times 2 times 1,
which is equal to 6.
That's equal to 6.
Then what is 4 choose 3?
I'll use some space down here.
So 4 choose 3,
4 choose 3 is equal to 4 factorial over,
over 3 factorial times
4 minus 3 factorial,
so that's just going to be 1 factorial.
Well, we already figured out what that is.
That's the same thing
as this right over here.
You just swap the 1 factorial
and the 3 factorial.
We already figured out that
this is going to be equal to 4.
That is equal to 4.
4 choose 4?
Well, this is just going to be,
let me just do it over here,
4 choose 4 is 4 factorial over 4 factorial
times 0 factorial,
which is the exact thing we had here,
which we figured out was 1.
Just like that, we're done.
We were able to figure out
what a plus b to the 4th power is.
It's 1a to the 4th plus
4a to the 3rd b to the 1st
plus 6a squared b squared plus 4ab cubed
plus b to the 4th.
Actually, let me just write that down,
since we did all that work.
This is equal to a to the 4th plus,
plus 4,
plus 4a to the 3rd,
a to the 3rd b plus,
plus 6,
plus 6a squared b squared,
a squared b squared,
plus,
plus,
plus 4, I think you see a pattern here,
plus 4a times b to the 3rd power
plus b to the 4th power,
plus b to the 4th power.
There is an interesting pattern here.
There is a symmetry where
you have the coefficient,
you go 1, 4, 6 for the middle term,
and then you go back to 4,
and then you go back to 1.
Then you also see that pattern,
is that you start at a
to the 4th, a to the 3rd,
a squared, a,
and then you could say
there is an a to the 0 here,
and then you started b to the 0,
which we didn't write
it, but that's just 1,
then b to the 1st, b
squared, b to the 3rd,
b to the 4th.
This is just one
application or one example.
In future videos, we'll do more examples
of the binomial theorem
and also try to understand why it works.
About this Video
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Apr 18, 2026 Last updated
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